Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How I Obtained My Phd Admission Letter: A Reflective Interaction-Based Autoethnography, Qing Xu, Kei Wei Chia

The Qualitative Report

This account utilises autoethnography to explore how the “one-child generation’s” cultural context influences behaviours and character traits, focusing on the first author’s experiences during a 5-month doctoral program application. It examines interactions with the employer, unacquainted individuals, intermediaries, and family, encapsulated in three Episodes, to analyse the personality traits of this generation. The findings reveal that, though deeply rooted in traditional culture, character traits such as risk aversion, caution, and family dependency are not immutable. It highlights the potential for personal transformation through inward growth, proactive external engagement, and the support of families who challenge traditional norms. In terms of …

Professional Interaction In Mental Health Courts: Processing Defendants With Mental Illness, Monte D. Staton

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, the author presents ethnographic research and analysis of how criminal justice and mental health professionals interact with each other and with criminal defendants with mental illness in running a mental health court (MHC) program. Ethnographic field research included observations of court programs, interviews of professionals, and gathering of textual documents, at nine MHCs in a Midwestern state. In MHC criminal defendants with mental illness participate in a program of regular court appearances, probation supervision, and mandated treatment, rather than being incarcerated in jail or prison. The author utilized the symbolic interaction perspective and examined how the professionals …

The Unbearable Lightness Of The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Accomplishment Of Diversity At An Urban Farmers Market, Sofya Aptekar

Publications and Research

This article provides a critique of work on urban public space that touts its potential as a haven from racial and class conflicts and inequalities. I argue that social structures and hierarchies embedded in the capitalist system and the state’s social control over the racialized poor are not suspended even in places that appear governed by civility and tolerance, such as those under Anderson’s “cosmopolitan canopy”. Durable inequality, residential segregation, nativism, and racism inevitably shape what happens in diverse public spaces. Using an ethnographic study of an urban farmers’ market in New York City, I show that appearances of everyday …

Gay Men And Satisfaction With Health Care Interactions, Michael Huggins

Theses and Dissertations--Nursing

The purpose of this research was to determine relationships among depression, anxiety, self-rated physical and mental health, self-advocacy, internalized homophobia, and quality of patient-provider communication to satisfaction with health care interactions. These were measured while controlling for select demographic variables: age; ethnicity; urban or rural domicile; relationship status; household income; highest educational attainment; health insurance; disclosure to health care provider as a gay man; reason for last healthcare visit; and, general health self-rating. The specific aims of this study were to: 1) identify general characteristics of gay men in this sample; 2) examine how levels of satisfaction with health care …

Effects Of A Robotic Cat On Agitation And Quality Of Life In Individuals With Dementia In A Long-Term Care Facility, Jillian Nicole Marsilio, Samantha Virginia Mckittrick, Lisa Renee Umbell, Melissa Ann Garner, Sharon Maiewski, Jeanne Wenos

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2016 to 2019

Study Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine whether introducing a robotic companion cat into a long term care facility may improve affect and, subsequently, increase participation for residents with dementia, and to determine potential benefits for caregiver roles and relationships with individuals with dementia.

Background: The number of people with dementia is growing, and the behavioral and psychological side effects are negatively affecting the quality of life for these people as well as their caregivers. Additional research is needed to help develop and confirm the use of nonpharmacological treatment for dementia with therapeutic robots.

Study Subjects: Research …

A System For Coding The Interaction In Focus Groups And Dyadic Interviews, David L. Morgan, Kim Hoffman

The Qualitative Report

Interaction among participants is the fundamental mechanism that generates data in focus groups. Despite calls for ways to analyze interaction in focus groups, there is still an unmet need to develop such tools. We present a coding system to investigate interaction by emphasizing how participants use the substantive aspects of the topics they discuss. We then apply it to the question of how conversations in dyadic interviews (with two participants) compare to discussions in focus groups (with four or more participants). We find that dyadic interviews are more likely to contain explicit connections to the content of the previous speaker’s …

Social Media Usage: The Impact On Feelings Of Depression Or Loneliness, Sarah Jensen

Sociology Senior Seminar Papers

Over the past decade, there has been a rapid growth of social media. Much of the problem lies with the new potential for constant social comparisons. Social media also adds a new layer of interaction that can occur anywhere, at any time, with anyone. This allows for a higher quantity of relationships, but strips the depth of these relationships. Does increased social media use affect quality of life? I hypothesize that the more social media sites a respondent is a member or regular user of, the more time he or she reports feeling depressed or lonely. I used a sample …

Evaluating Variables Of Patient Experience And The Correlation With Design, Dyutima Jha, Amy Keller Frye, Jennifer Schlimgen

Patient Experience Journal

The objective of this paper was to understand the variables of patient experience by analyzing recent and relevant evidence and to identify design solutions within the hospital environment that positively impact those variables. A systematic review of literature published from 2008-present was conducted to identify variables that contribute to patient experience benefits. Identified variables were documented and categorized into a design, organizational, and outcome variable matrix. Interviews were conducted with professionals from healthcare institutions, architecture firms and organizations committed to improving the patient experience. Data from healthcare facilities, with high patient experience scores, was also examined to derive effective design …

"There Is No Planet B": Frame Disputes Within The Environmental Movement Over Geoengineering, David Russell Zeller Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines frame disputes within the environmental movement over geoengineering proposals. Among other core framing tasks, social movement organizations must evaluate solutions and strategies for the social problems they seek to address. These framings are frequently disputed by those within the movement. Recent controversies regarding a set of climate intervention proposals commonly known as geoengineering offer the opportunity to document the ongoing construction of competing visions of environmental sustainability. The nascent quality of these proposals generate dissonant framings—episodes where organizations within the environmental movement exhibit disagreement about one or more core framing tasks—a situation Goffman referred to as a …

Flood Realities, Perceptions, And The Depth Of Divisions On Climate, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Cameron P. Wake, Joel N. Hartter, Thomas G. Safford, Alli J. Puchlopek

Sociology

Research has led to broad agreement among scientists that anthropogenic climate change is happening now and likely to worsen. In contrast to scientific agreement, US public views remain deeply divided, largely along ideological lines. Science communication has been neutralised in some arenas by intense counter-messaging, but as adverse climate impacts become manifest they might intervene more persuasively in local perceptions. We look for evidence of this occurring with regard to realities and perceptions of flooding in the northeastern US state of New Hampshire. Although precipitation and flood damage have increased, with ample news coverage, most residents do not see a …

Speaking Through The Silence: Narratives, Interaction, And The Social Construction Of Sexual Selves, David Wayne Wahl

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research is to study the construction of sexual selves. The research entails understanding how sexual selves emerge, develop, alter, sustain, transform or deconstruct. In all cases of sexuality, sex is something we, as active agents, do. It is for this reason that I adhere, in this work and otherwise, to the tenets of symbolic interactionism as this activity involves; (1) active agents who are composed of many different categorizations of selves including sexual selves, (2) the reflexive nature between the individual and the social realm wherein sexuality, in causal terms, takes the position of a dependent …

Trust In Scientists On Climate Change And Vaccines, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Joel N. Hartter, Kei Saito

Sociology

On climate change and other topics, conservatives have taken positions at odds with a strong scientific consensus. Claims that this indicates a broad conservative distrust of science have been countered by assertions that while conservatives might oppose the scientific consensus on climate change or evolution, liberals oppose scientists on some other domains such as vaccines. Evidence for disproportionately liberal bias against science on vaccines has been largely anecdotal, however. Here, we test this proposition of opposite biases using 2014 survey data from Oregon and New Hampshire. Across vaccine as well as climate change questions on each of these two surveys, …

Being A "Good Parent" In Parent-Teacher Conferences, Danielle M. Pillet-Shore

Communication

This research advances our understanding of what constitutes a "good parent" in the course of actual social interaction. Examining video-recorded naturally occurring parent-teacher conferences, this article shows that, while teachers deliver student-praising utterances, parents may display that they are gaining knowledge; but when teachers’ actions adumbrate student-criticizing utterances, parents systematically display prior knowledge. This article elucidates the details of how teachers and parents tacitly collaborate to enable parents to express student-troubles first, demonstrating that parents display competence -- appropriate involvement with children’s schooling -- by asserting their prior knowledge of, and/or claiming/describing their efforts to remedy, student-troubles. People (have to) …

Affirming Expectations: African American Men's Perceptions Of Trust In Physicians, Rondrell Tayvan Taylor

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

AFFIRMING EXPECTATIONS:

AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF TRUST IN PHYSICIANS

by

RONDRELL TAYVAN TAYLOR

August 2015

Advisor: Dr. R. Khari Brown

Major: Sociology (Medical)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Trust is the foundation of the doctor-patient relationship. It promotes healing and medical efficacy. Patient trust in physicians exists when doctors act in their patients’ best interests. Moreover, trust literature demonstrates that historically (and contemporarily), African Americans are less likely than Whites to trust clinicians and the medical community due to the history of discrimination, clinical racism, unethical medical practices, implicit or unconscious racial biases, and exploitation by the health care …

Dying Is Only Human. The Case Death Makes For The Immortality Of The Person, Steffen Roth Dr.

Dr. Steffen Roth

The claim of the present article is that human mortality makes a case for the discovery of the immortal nature of the person. Based on a clear distinction of the concepts of the human being and the person, human beings and persons are considered immortal insofar as both entities evidently do not qualify for a definition as living systems. On the one hand, human beings are presented as neither lifeless nor living systems. On the other hand, persons are introduced as lifeless systems and, as a result, immortal system. This claim is extended by the statement that, even if supposed …

Press Release 3rd Intl Symposium On Cross Sector Social Interactions: Making A Diffeence: Enhancing The Impact Of Partnerships For The Social Good, Maria May Seitanidi

Maria May Seitanidi

Leading academics from around the world including The Netherlands, France, the UK, the US and Canada, discussed at the Rotterdam School of Management-Erasmus University, on 24th and 25th May 2012, how to enhance the impact of partnerships while contributing to the social good by delivering policies, programmes and actions and encouraging the collaboration between business, nonprofits, governements and citizens.

Chapter 9 Interaction, In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

Concepts of person and expectations for interaction among the Sikaiana people of the Solomon Islands from 1980-1993.

Related material at www.Sikaianaarchives.com

From Fur Baby To Chick Magnet: A Sociological View Of Dogs And Their People, Ariel Teresa Leigh Petersen

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Since their domestication, dogs have played an important role in human society. People put them to work hunting game, herding livestock and guarding the home, and also keep them as companions. As dogs increasingly occupy a meaningful position in the lives of their owners, the startling lack of research on dog-human interaction becomes increasingly apparent.

This research discovers different ways people relate to their dogs, and the meaning dogs hold for their owners. While conducting observations, I identified and interviewed owners who exhibited an emotionally meaningful attachment to their dogs. I then used Glaser and Strauss’ grounded theory approach to …

(Inter)Active Interviewing In Childhood Research: On Children's Identity Work In Interviews, Stina Fernqvist

The Qualitative Report

Seeing identity as work produced in interaction is a starting point in this current study, were analyzing interviews with children living in economic hardship, and how everyday life in economic hardship in one way or another becomes significant for their identity work, is the main empirical material. This article is intended to illustrate how to (a) combine James A. Holstein and Jaber F. Gubrium's (1995) active interview approach with elements from Erving Goffman's (1974/1986) frame analysis, and (b) introduce this approach as a fruitful way of analyzing children's narratives. Also, by regarding the interview as interaction and thereby acknowledging the …

Variations In Social Support And Mental Health Among Black Women By Socioeconomic Status, Lesa A. Johnson

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A considerable body of research focuses on the mental health of black women with low socioeconomic status. Social scientists have noted that women in low socioeconomic status groups often utilize social networks to provide protection and survival in dense and depressed communities. Still, some social scientists also suggest that the bounded solidarity of kinship networks decreases chances for women to pursue opportunities for economic mobility by creating stressful and time consuming obligations for reciprocity. Though many qualitative and community quantitative studies have been conducted regarding social support and survival among low income women, few quantitative studies have addressed variation in …

Understanding Masculinity: The Role Of Father-Son Interaction, Clyde J. Remmo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although a significant amount of research has accounted for gender from a social constructionist perspective, research specifically examining the construction of masculinity is still a relatively new endeavor. Additionally, although gender is accounted for in various family communication theories, no theory specifically accounts for gender formation within the context of family interaction. The purpose of this study is to examine sons' narratives of their recollections of father-son interactions. Studying the father-son dyad in this way may help us to better understand how men constitute masculinity in particular familial relationships. Although the purpose was to examine the themes of father-son interactions, …

Students’ Race And Participation In Classroom Discussion In Introductory Sociology: A Preliminary Investigation, Jay R. Howard, Aimee Zoeller, Yale Pratt

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This study utilizes observation, survey and interview methodologies to investigate the impact of student race on participation in discussion in introductory sociology courses at a large Midwestern US university with a minority enrollment of approximately 15 percent. While results are mixed there is some evidence that white students participated at a higher rate than minority students. However, in certain circumstances (e.g., discussion of racism), minority students became the “experts” during particular class sessions and participated at a greater rate than did white students. Key Words: Discussion, College Students, Race, Learning, Interaction

Faculty And Male Football And Basketball Players On University Campuses: An Empirical Investigation Of The "Intellectual" As Mentor To The Student Athlete, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

No abstract provided.

Faculty And Male Football And Basketball Players On University Campuses: An Empirical Investigation Of The "Intellectual" As Mentor To The Student Athlete, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

No abstract provided.

Joint Stories And Layered Tales: Support, Contradiction And Me Aning Construction In Focus Group Research, Agnieszka Kosny

The Qualitative Report

This paper uses focus group data about women’s work experiences gathered in five Canadian east coast communities to examine some of the strengths and weakness associated with focus group research. I explore the case made against the use of focus group methods and the basis for some of the critiques aimed at focus group research. By examining the evolving discussions between focus group members, it is possible to understand some of the benefits of group-talk, including the creation of a unique opportunity for interaction, joint meaning creation and contradiction.

An Investigation Of Stability, Change, And Observed Associations During Infant-Mother Face-To-Face Interaction, Sarah Elizabeth Gable

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Researchers of social development during infancy have long viewed social competence as a reflection of the infant's experiences during early social interactions. In this context of social interaction, the infant's earliest developmental task involves the ability to regulate arousal; with continued development and the accumulation of interactional experiences, the infant takes a more active role as an initiator/elicitor of interaction. A particularly salient type of social exchange during infancy occurs when mother and infant engage in face-to-face interaction. Consequently, it was the goal of this study to examine maternal and infant behavior in the context of face-to-face interaction in order …