Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

Family Diversity And Inequality: The Canadian Case, Beaujot Roderic, Jianye Liu, Zenaida R. Ravanera

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

The Second Demographic Transition, including flexibility in types of unions and in entry and exit from unions, has increased the diversity across families. There has been a significant cultural and political dynamic to celebrate this diversity as an increase in individual options, beyond the heterosexual couples with children in a traditional division of labour.

Diversity can be expressed in various ways: economic families or unattached individuals, married or common law, two parents or lone parent, opposite sex or same sex, breadwinner or two earners, traditional division of work and care or collaborative model, couples with and without children, intact or …

New Hampshire Children In Need Of Services: Impacts Of 2011 Legislative Changes To Chins, Lisa Speropolous, Barbara Wauchope

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Using administrative data from state and local agencies and data from interviews with CHINS professionals, this brief provides an overview of participation in the Children in Need of Services (CHINS) program before and after the change in the law in September 2011 but before funding returned in 2013. Specifically, it examines changes in CHINS petitions filed, children served, and services provided to children and their families in the state. Authors Lisa Speropolous and Barbara Wauchope present the study as an example of the impact that state fiscal policy can have on the most vulnerable of New Hampshire’s populations.

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: New Bedford, Phillip Granberry, Mayara Fontes

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a descriptive snapshot of selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators pertaining to Latinos in New Bedford. It reflects a commitment by UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy to provide periodic updates on the growing Latino population in Massachusetts. The report on New Bedford is part of a larger series that covers cities and towns with a population between 35,000 and 100,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a significant Latino population. Each report analyzes data from the American Community Survey (ACS) conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. We …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Taunton, Phillip Granberry, Mayara Fontes

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a descriptive snapshot of selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators pertaining to Latinos in Taunton. It reflects a commitment by UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy to provide periodic updates on the growing Latino population in Massachusetts. The report on Taunton is part of a larger series that covers cities and towns with a population between 35,000 and 100,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a significant Latino population. Each report analyzes data from the American Community Survey (ACS) conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. We obtained the …

Presidential Versus Vice Presidential Home State Advantage: A Comparative Analysis Of Electoral Significance, Causes, And Processes, 1884-2008, Christopher J. Devine, Kyle C. Kopko

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article compares the electoral significance, causes, and processes associated with presidential versus vice presidential home state advantages. Our analysis of presidential election returns from 1884 through 2008 demonstrates that presidential candidates generally receive a large, statistically significant home state advantage. However, vice presidential home state advantages are statistically negligible and conditioned on the interactive effect of political experience and state population. Furthermore, the results indicate that the mobilization of new voters primarily accounts for presidential home state advantage, while vice presidential home state advantage is mainly due to the conversion of existing voters. Although home state advantages do occur …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Brockton, Phillip Granberry, Mayara Fontes

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a descriptive snapshot of selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators pertaining to Latinos in Brockton. It reflects a commitment by UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy to provide periodic updates on the growing Latino population in Massachusetts. The report on Brockton is part of a larger series that covers cities and towns with a population between 35,000 and 100,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a significant Latino population. Each report analyzes data from the American Community Survey (ACS) conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. We obtained the …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Fall River, Phillip Granberry, Mayara Fontes

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a descriptive snapshot of selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators pertaining to Latinos in Fall River. It reflects a commitment by UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy to provide periodic updates on the growing Latino population in Massachusetts.

The report on Fall River is part of a larger series that covers cities and towns with a population between 35,000 and 100,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a significant number of Latinos. Fall River is considered a “Gateway City.” These cities are midsized urban centers that were once industrial …

Maine Epscor End-To-End Connectivity For Sustainability Science Collaboration, Michael Eckardt, Jeffrey Letourneau, David Neivandt, Bruce E. Segee

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Project Description

This RII C2 proposal from Maine (ME) EPSCoR is focused on addressing last-mile bottlenecks at seven campuses of the University of Maine System. Maine's Research and Education Network, MaineREN, delivers high performance inter-campus fiber connectivity to public and private institutions across the state, but the intra-campus networking has lacked the same investment by the state.

The proposed improvements include:
- Rewiring eight buildings at the University of Maine Orono Campus (UMaine) with Cat-6 cable, increasing end-to-end performance to 10 Gbps.
- Upgrading the fiber backbone between the two University of Southern Maine (USM) campuses, one in Portland and …

Integration And “Welcome-Ability” Indexes: Measures Of Community Capacity To Integrate Immigrants, Zenaida R. Ravanera, Victoria Esses, Rajulton Fernando

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

This paper aims at clarifying the applicability of the theory of micro-macro links to the general concept of “integration” and illustrates two distinct methods of measuring the concept at individual and community levels. In particular, two indexes are developed, the first one called welcome-ability index, to measure the capacities of communities to welcome and integrate newcomers, and the second called integration index, to measure economic, social, and political integration of individuals. The first, a community-level measure, takes into account opportunities and facilities, including employment opportunities, facilities for health care and positive attitudes towards immigrants. The second, an individual-level measure, takes …

On The Causal Interpretation Of Race In Regressions Adjusting For Confounding And Mediating Variables, Tyler J. Vanderweele, Whitney Robinson

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

We consider different possible interpretations of the “effect of race” when regressions are run with race as an exposure variable, controlling also for various confounding and mediating variables. When adjustment is made for socioeconomic status early in a person's life, we discuss under what contexts the regression coefficients for race can be interpreted as corresponding to the extent to which a racial disparity would remain if various socioeconomic distributions early in life across racial groups could be equalized. When adjustment is also made for adult socioeconomic status, we note how the overall disparity can be decomposed into the portion that …

Food Sovereignty: An Alternative Paradigm For Poverty Reduction And Biodiversity Conservation In Latin America, M. Jahi Chappell, Hannah Wittman, Christopher M. Bacon, Bruce G. Ferguson, Luis Garcia Barrios, Raúl Garcia Barrios, Daniel Jaffee, Jefferson Lima, V. Ernesto Méndez, Helda Morales, Lorena Soto-Pinto, John Vandermeer, Ivette Perfecto

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Strong feedback between global biodiversity loss and persistent, extreme rural poverty are major challenges in the face of concurrent food, energy, and environmental crises. This paper examines the role of industrial agricultural intensification and market integration as exogenous socio-ecological drivers of biodiversity loss and poverty traps in Latin America. We then analyze the potential of a food sovereignty framework, based on protecting the viability of a diverse agroecological matrix while supporting rural livelihoods and global food production. We review several successful examples of this approach, including ecological land reform in Brazil, agroforestry, milpa, and the uses of wild varieties in …

Trends In Poverty Rates Among Latinos In New York City And The United States, 1990 - 2011, Justine Calcagno

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors regarding Latinos in New York City and the United States between 1990 and 2011 – particularly poverty rates.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: The analyzed data indicate that the poverty rate among the national population over the last two decades increased. However, there were nuanced and complex trends within both New York City …

Invisible & Voiceless: Latinos In Council Bluffs Iowa, María Teresa Gastón, Lourdes Gouveia, Christian Espinosa, Clare Maakestad, Christopher C. Blue

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

While Latino immigrant workers in Council Bluffs, Iowa have contributed significantly to the Iowa and Nebraska economies, they remain virtually invisible and lack a voice in the city’s key venues and institutions – this according to a new report being released by the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS) and funded in part by the Iowa West Foundation.

The report, titled “Invisible & Voiceless” combines data from the 2010 Census with 26 interviews with members of Council Bluffs’ civic, government, education, religious, non-profit and business communities as well as Latino voices gathered at interviews …

Moral Economy And The Upper Peasant: The Dynamics Of Land Privatization In The Mekong Delta, Timothy Gorman

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper examines how people mobilize around notions of distributive justice, or ‘moral economies’, to make claims to resources, using the process of post‐socialist land privatization in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam as a case study. First, I argue that the region's history of settlement, production, and political struggle helped to entrench certain normative beliefs around landownership, most notably in its population of semi‐commercial upper peasants. I then detail the ways in which these upper peasants mobilized around notions of distributive justice to successfully press demands for land restitution in the late 1980s, drawing on Vietnamese newspapers and …

Implementing Hotspot Policing: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

Crime has the power to disrupt our communities in many ways. It unearths feelings of anger and fear, promotes vulnerability, and often results in effects that remain long after the crime has been committed. Those enlisted to protect society attempt to target criminal acts before they occur, and often employ tactics that predict future criminal behavior. It often seems that officers have solved a particular issue and extinguished crime in a problem area, but discover it was only pushed into another community. This compilation of research analyzes the nature of crime and attempts to provide solutions for the ongoing study …

Livelihood Security Among Refugees In Uganda: Opportunities, Obstacles, And Physical Security Implications, Karen J. Norris

Student Publications

This research project was designed to investigate the challenges refugees face in securing a livelihood, to understand the extent to which the United Nations, the government of Uganda, and various aid groups are able to assist refugees in achieving self-reliance, and the capacity that refugees have to empower themselves. It also endeavors to expose any disparities between nationality groups, and the impact of these differences. Furthermore, this project aims to explore the impact of refugee livelihood security on regional physical security and community stability.

The study found that despite international and national policies, and efforts by both non-governmental organizations and …

Does Retirement Induced Through Social Security Pension Eligibility Influence Subjective Well-Being? A Cross-Country Comparison, Arie Kapteyn, Jinkook Lee, Gema Zamarro

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

How does retirement influence subjective well-being? Some studies suggest retirement does not affect subjective well-being or may improve it. Others suggest it adversely affects it. This paper aims at advancing our understanding of the effect of retirement on subjective well-being by (1) using longitudinal data to tease out the retirement effect from age and cohort differences; (2) using instrumental variables to address potential reverse causation of subjective well-being on retirement decisions; and (3) conducting cross-country analyses, exploiting differences in eligibility ages for retirement benefits across countries and within countries. We use panel data from the US Health and Retirement Study …

Assessing The Senate: Political Opinion Among Cameroonian Youth, Rebeccah Rendall

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper seeks to examine the political opinions of Cameroon youth in regards to the newly-introduced Senate. Research was conducted with students at the University of Yaoundé I and the University of Yaoundé II over the course of a four-week period. This paper discusses the potential and stated purposes of the Senate within the Cameroonian context. It will also discuss the various particular reasons that the Senate was implemented in 2013. Finally, it will convey the opinions of and the hopes for the Senate as stated by university students. First, I conclude that the Senate’s main role is to be …

Modernization And Its Effects In Loma Bonita: A Leap From Historical Subsistence Agriculture Into The Precarious Commercial Market, Piper Halpin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This investigation studies the modernization effects on Loma Bonita and how these changes will ultimately shape the community in the future. By performing of series of 50 interviews and surveys, I used anecdotal and observational research to my make conclusions about the effects of electricity installation, road construction, and foreign influences on the town. Although it is recognized that there are an abundance of factors contributing to modernization, the scope of this paper only focuses on the three components mentioned above.

Daily lives of Loma Bonita residents have already been drastically changed by the electricity, road, and foreigners. The community …

Livelihood Security Among Refugees In Uganda: Opportunities, Obstacles, And Physical Security Implications, Karen J. Norris

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project was designed to investigate the challenges refugees face in securing a livelihood, and to understand the extent to which the United Nations, the government of Uganda, and various aid groups are able to assist refugees in achieving self-reliance, and the capacity that refugees have to empower themselves. It also endeavors to expose any disparities between nationality groups, and the impact of these differences. Furthermore, this project aims to explore the impact of refugee livelihood security on regional physical security and community stability.

Research for this study was conducted in Kyangwali and Nakivale Refugee Settlements in Uganda, as …

A Case Study Of Rural Finance Self-Help Groups In Uganda And Their Impact On Poverty Alleviation And Development, Rebecca Flynn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of financial Self-Help Groups (SHGs)on poverty alleviation and development in rural areasof Uganda and evaluate their successes, limitations, and potential for sustainability.An extensive literature review ofpovertyin Uganda, development theories and development in Uganda,andrural finance self-help group methodology and theorieswas conducted in order to provide a broader context for the research.

The participants in the research were members of SHGs in Central Uganda under the Self-Help Group Approach Uganda (SHGAU) organization andemployees of SHGAU.The primary methods were personal interviews and focus groups. Thesegave the researcher insight into the goals and structure …

Trends In Median Household Income Among New York City Latinos In Comparative Perspective, 1990 - 2011, Laird Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines trends in median household incomes among New York City’s Latino population between 1990 and 2011, and considers these in comparative perspective with the City’s other major race/ethnic groups as well as with Latinos across the United States.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Between 1990 and 2011 median household incomes among the City’s entire population fell by -4.7%. …

Family Histories And Multiple Transitions Among Homeless Young Adults: Pathways To Homelessness, Kimberly A. Tyler, Rachel M. Schmitz

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study explored the early family histories of homeless young adults, the types and number of transitions they experienced, and their pathways to the street. Intensive qualitative interviews were audio taped and transcribed with 40 homeless young adults 19 to 21 years of age in the Midwest. Findings show that family backgrounds were generally characterized by substance use, child maltreatment, and witnessing violence, all of which provide social context for understanding why so many of these young people opted to leave home in search of an alternative living situation. The current findings also reveal that while some young adults ran …

A Village National: The Transformative Potential Of Fortifying The Preexisting Structures Of An Organic Nepal, Alexandra Sarazen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nepal is in the midst of a severe food deficit as well as in the process of recovering from a 10 year civil war. Today, nearly 80 percent of the population works in the agricultural sector which accounts for 38 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Recent declines in agricultural production have depressed rural economies, increased widespread hunger and catalyzed an influx of urban migration from outside of Kathmandu. Within its total population of 29 million people, 55% earn less than $1.25 a day, 29% of children under 5 years of age are underweight, and 41% of the same demographic …

Análisis Comparativo De Los Gobiernos Locales: La Política Del Medio Ambiente En Las Comunas De La Pintana Y Peñalolén, Nicolás Thorpe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With the approval of many international environmental agreements and the passage of national environmental laws, Chile has gradually created institutions at the national level that focus on environmental policy. However, given local government’s proximity to the people and their demands, local authorities also play an important role in environmental protection and sustainable development. This investigation answers the following question: What are the factors that influence a commune to have an environmental policy? After describing Chile’s national environmental policy and intergovernmental relations, this investigation will compare two communes in the metropolitan area of Santiago: La Pintana and Peñalolén, which both have …

Feeling The Heat? Substantial Variation In Temperatures Does Not Affect The Proportion Of Males Born In Australia, Barnaby J. Dixson, John Haywood, Philip J. Lester, Diane K. Ormsby

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The global proportion of male births has been shown to vary with climate, with a higher proportion of male births documented in colder climates. Here we examined the hypothesis that ambient temperature predicts fluctuations in the proportion of male births in Australia and within seven Australian states using historical annual data spanning 1910-2009. We predicted that within states with tropical ambient temperatures the proportion of male births would decrease when ambient temperatures are higher. Considering the national composite births for the whole of Australia first, the proportion of males born ranged only from 0.510 to 0.517. We observed no relationship …

Demographic, Economic And Social Transformations In The Mexican-Origin Population Of The New York City Metropolitan Area, 1990 - 2010, Laird Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines demographic and socioeconomic factors concerning the Mexican population of New York City Metro Area between 1990 and 2010.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: The demographic structure of the region’s Mexican community (over 600,000 in 2010) was in large part determined by the arrival of over 250,000 foreign-born Mexicans between 1990 and 2010. These migrants were generally working …

The Mexican-Origin Population In Metropolitan Statistical Areas Across The United States, 1990-2010, Haiwen Chu

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in the United States between 1990 and 20010 – particularly the Mexican origin population.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: This section focuses on the growth of the Mexican population in different Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The top three MSAs in terms of total Mexican population in 2010 were Los Angeles, …

Latinas In New York City: A Comparison Of Education And Income, 1990 – 2010, Justine Calcagno

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors regarding Latinos in New York City between 1990 and 2010 – particularly education and income rates among Hispanic females.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: From 1990 to 2010 Latinas’ educational attainment and income levels both rose. Disparities between Latinas and Latinos in yearly personal income have persisted. From 1990 to 2010, women earned …

The Rates Of Overweight And Obesity Across Racial/Ethnic Group: Focus On Latinos And Latino Subgroups, Sou Hyung Jang

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in the United States – particularly the obesity rate of Latinos.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Americans on average are increasingly becoming more overweight and the problems associated with higher levels of obesity are growing. In the U.S. the Latino population has higher rates of overweight and obesity compared to …