Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of The Broker In Mixed-Methods Collaboration: A Case Study Of Social Networks And Risk Practices Among People Who Inject Drugs In The Rural United States, Roberto Abadie

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

One of the most recent innovations in social epidemiology is the combination of epidemiological data collection with ethnographic fieldwork in order to produce algorithmic models that estimate rates of disease prevalence over time. This paper uses a case study about a multi-year study of social networks and risk among people who inject drugs (PWID) in a rural community in the US to document the challenges raised by this form of knowledge production. As the anthropologist in charge of overseeing data collection, I had a privileged position to reflect on the tensions inherent in mixed-methods collaboration in health research. The research …

Social Factors, Alcohol Expectancy, And Drinking Behavior: A Comparison Of Two College Campuses, Kimberly A. Tyler, Rachel M. Schmitz, Scott A. Adams, Leslie Gordon Simons

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background: Though college students have high rates of heavy drinking, few studies have examined the various pathways through which risks affect drinking and whether this varies by institution. We examined whether alcohol expectancy mediates the relationship between social factors (i.e., hooking up, friends drinking, Greek affiliation, entitlement) and drinking behavior comparing college students from one Midwestern and one Southeastern university. Methods: In the 2013–14 academic year, 1,482 college students (51% female) enrolled in undergraduate courses at two public universities completed a paper and pencil survey of attitudes and experiences about dating, sexuality, and substance use. Multiple group path …

Using Cell Phones For Data Collection: Benefits, Outcomes, And Intervention Possibilities With Homeless Youth, Kimberly A. Tyler, Rachel M. Schmitz

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

While many homeless youth use cell phones to stay socially connected, and maintaining positive social ties can contribute to pathways out of homelessness, little is known about how using cell phones for data collection can improve these young people’s lives. We conducted baseline and follow-up interviews with 150 homeless youth as well as provided them with a cell phone for 30 days to gather daily data using short message service (SMS) surveying. This paper examines youths’ opinions about study participation and how they used the cell phone. Results revealed that youth liked participating in the study because the SMS texting …

Lgbtq+ Young Adults On The Street And On Campus: Identity As A Product Of Social Context, Rachel M. Schmitz, Kimberly A. Tyler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) young adults face unique identity-related experiences based on their immersion in distinctive social contexts. The predominant framework of performing separate analyses on samples of LGBTQ+ young people by their primary social status obfuscates more holistic understandings of the role of social context. Using 46 in-depth interviews with LGBTQ+ college students and LGBTQ+ homeless young adults, we ask: How are LGBTQ+ young adults’ capacities for “doing” their gender and sexual identities shaped by their distinctive social contexts? In developing their identities, both groups of LGBTQ+ young adults navigated their social …

Trauma In Veterans With Substance Use Disorder: Similar Treatment Need Among Urban And Rural Residents, Lance Brendan Young, Christine Timko, Kimberly A. Tyler, Kathleen M. Grant

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The objective of this study is to determine whether rural residence is associated with trauma exposure or posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among military veterans seeking treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Delivering mental health services to veterans in rural areas is a challenge, so identifying differences in the causes and outcomes of trauma exposure would assist in effectively targeting service delivery.

Methods: Veterans (N = 196) entering SUD treatment at 3 Midwestern VA treatment centers were designated as either urban or rural, based on rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) codes. The …

Workplace Faculty Friendships And Work-Family Culture, Megumi Watanabe, Christina Falci

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although various work-family policies are available to faculty members, many underuse these policies due to concerns about negative career consequences. Therefore, we believe it is important to develop an academic work culture that is more supportive of work-family needs. Using network data gathered from faculty members at a Midwestern university, this study investigated the relationship between friendship connections with colleagues and perceived work-family supportiveness in the department. It also explored the role of parental status in the relationship for men and women. Results show that faculty with larger friendship networks have more positive perceptions of work-family culture compared to faculty …

Public Health Framing And Attribution: Analysis Of The First Lady’S Remarks And News Coverage On Childhood Obesity, Jennifer A. Andersen, Lindsey E. Wylie, Eve M. Brank

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

First Lady Michelle Obama’s public health promotion “Let’s Move” seeks to place children on a path to better health by giving families access to health education and fostering healthier environments. We examined the use of public health framing and attribution of responsibility in the First Lady’s remarks and newspaper articles reporting on childhood obesity. We coded the Whitehouse.gov website for remarks made by the First Lady regarding the childhood obesity prevention program “Let’s Move.” Of the 103 remarks coded, 35% of the remarks used public health framing. The First Lady’s remarks attributed responsibility and solutions for the childhood obesity crisis …

“I Wanted To Raise My Hand And Say I’M Not A Feminist”: College Men’S Use Of Hybrid Masculinities To Negotiate Attachments To Feminism And Gender Studies, Rachel Schmitz, Trenton M. Haltom

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Using a hybrid masculinities framework, we qualitatively analyzed 15 college men’s experiences with feminism and gender scholarship in Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) courses. Men described adopting particular strategies of discourse in their social interactions to manage varied reactions to feminism and gender studies. As a way of justifying their choice of academic study, these men also learned to navigate social relationships by highlighting or downplaying their own masculinity (i.e., creating or deconstructing a hybrid masculinity). Finally, men reconciled the multiple meanings of feminism and WGS studies by drawing from dominant cultural norms and expectations in attempts to make sense …

Head Injury And Substance Use In Young Adults, Lisa Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background: Prior studies suggest a link between head injuries and substance use but do not routinely capture mechanisms connecting the two.

Objectives: The goal of the study was to explore whether past head injuries predicted current substance use among young adults, taking factors such as stress, self-esteem, temper, and risk-taking into consideration.

Methods: Data were drawn from a web-based survey conducted in 2014 and 2015 at a public university in the United States (n = 897). Questions were asked about history of head injuries as well as past 12-month binge drinking, marijuana use, and prescription drug …

Rural And Urban Comparisons Of Polysubstance Use Profiles And Associated Injection Behaviors Among People Who Inject Drugs In Puerto Rico, Dane Hautala, Roberto Abadie, Bilal Khan, Kirk Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Introduction—In contrast to urban populations, little is known about polysubstance use among rural people who inject drugs (PWID), particularly in Puerto Rico where injection drug use and related health consequences are prevalent. The aim of the study is to compare injection and non-injection substance use profiles among separate urban and rural samples of Puerto Rican PWID.

Material and Methods—Data for the urban sample come from 455 PWID who participated in the CDC's National HIV Behavioral Surveillance survey of injection drug use in San Juan. The data for the rural sample come from 315 PWID residing in four rural cities approximately …

Age Of Migration Life Expectancy With Functional Limitations And Morbidity Among Mexican Americans, Marc A. Garcia, Luis M. Valderrama-Hinds, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Miriam S. Mutambudzi, Nai-Wei Chen, Mukaila Raji

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The U.S. Mexican American population enjoys longer life expectancies relative to other racial/ethnic groups but is disproportionately affected by chronic conditions and functional limitations. Studying the impact of heterogeneity in age, time and other characteristics of migration among older Mexican Americans can inform our understanding of health disparities and health care needs in later-life. This research employed 20 years of data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to assess the proportion of life spent with functional limitations and one or more morbidity (by age of migration and gender) in the United States Mexican American …

Contextualizing The Relationship Between Culture And Puerto Rican Health: Towards A Place-Based Framework Of Minority Health Disparities, Giovani Burgos, Fernando I. Rivera, Marc A. Garcia

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In both the culture of poverty literature and the acculturation literature, Puerto Ricans are portrayed in negative terms. The culture of poverty framework attributes Puerto Rican poverty to the mental, behavioral, and moral pathology of Puerto Rican individuals and to Puerto Rican culture. Similarly, outdated acculturation frameworks also trace the poor health of immigrants and racialized minorities, such as Puerto Ricans, to equivalent perceived deficiencies. In this paper, we argue that both the culture of poverty and acculturation frameworks are two pillars of the White Racial Frame (Feagin 2009) that sustains racial inequality in the United States. To build our …

Stress Exposure And Physical, Mental, And Behavioral Health Among American Indian Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, Melissa L. Walls, Kelley J. Sittner Hartshorn, Benjamin D. Aronson, Angie K. Forsberg, Les B. Whitbeck, Mustafa Al'absi

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

American Indian (AI) communities experience disproportionate exposure to stressors and health inequities including type 2 diabetes. Yet, we know little about the role of psychosocial stressors for AI diabetes-related health outcomes. We investigated associations between a range of stressors and psychological, behavioral, and physical health for AIs with diabetes. This community-based participatory research with 5 AI tribes includes 192 AI adult type 2 diabetes patients recruited from clinical records at tribal clinics. Data are from computer-assisted interviews and medical charts. We found consistent bivariate relationships between chronic to discrete stressors and mental and behavioral health outcomes; several remained even after …

The Republicanization Of Evangelical Protestants In The United States: An Examination Of The Sources Of Political Realignment, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although the association between evangelical Protestant and Republican affiliations is now a fundamental aspect of American politics, this was not the case as recently as the early 1980s. Following work on secular political realignment and the issue evolution model of partisan change, I use four decades of repeated cross-sectional survey data to examine the dynamic correlates of evangelical Protestant and Republican affiliations, and how these factors promote changes in partisanship. Results show that evangelical Protestants have become relatively more likely to attend religious services and to oppose homosexuality, abortion, and welfare spending. Period-specific mediation models show that opposition to abortion, …

Period And Cohort Changes In Americans’ Support For Marijuana Legalization: Convergence And Divergence Across Social Groups, Philip Schwadel, Christopher G. Ellison

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We cast fresh light on how and why Americans’ views on marijuana legalization shifted between 1973 and 2014. Results from age-period-cohort models show a strong negative effect of age and relatively high levels of support for legalization among baby boom cohorts. Despite the baby boom effect, the large increase in support for marijuana legalization is predominantly a broad, period-based change in the population. Additional analyses demonstrate that differences in support for legalization by education, region, and religion decline, that differences by political party increase, and that differences between whites and African Americans reverse direction. We conclude by discussing the implications …

The Positives And Negatives Of Higher Education: How The Religious Context In Adolescence Moderates The Effects Of Education On Changes In Religiosity, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although longitudinal research suggests that declines in religiosity associated with higher education vary across religious traditions, it tells us little about variation in the effects of higher education on changes in religiosity more broadly. Higher education may promote increases in religiosity for some, particularly with many Americans now being raised in relatively secular homes. This research note uses multilevel growth curve models and four waves of longitudinal data to examine how the religious context in adolescence moderates the effects of higher education on changes in emerging adult religiosity, regardless of the direction of change. Religious tradition and parent religious service …

Assessing Potential Errors In Level-Of-Effort Paradata Using Gps Data, James Wagner, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Surveys are a critical resource for social, economic, and health research. The ability to efficiently collect these data and develop accurate post-survey adjustments depends upon reliable data about effort required to recruit sampled units. Level-of-effort paradata are data generated by interviewers during the process of collecting data in surveys. These data are often used as predictors in nonresponse adjustment models or to guide data collection efforts. However, recent research has found that these data may include measurement errors, which would lead to inaccurate decisions in the field or reduced effectiveness for adjustment purposes (Biemer, Chen, & Wang, 2013; West, 2013). …

Contextualization Of Survey Data: What Do We Gain And Does It Matter?, Lindsay R. Wilkinson,, Kenneth F. Ferraro, Blakelee R. Kemp

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey research designs that integrate contextual data have become more prevalent in recent decades, presumably to enable a more refined focus on the person as the unit of analysis and a greater emphasis on interindividual differences due to social forces and contextual conditions. This article reviews varied approaches to contextualizing survey data and examines the value of linking two data sources to respondent information: interviewer ratings and neighborhood information (measured via census tracts). The utility of an integrative approach is illustrated with data from the Health and Retirement Study. The results reveal modest gains by using a contextualized approach but …

Armstrong State University 2017 Fact Book, Armstrong State University

Armstrong Office of Institutional Research: Armstrong Fact Books (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Catalog, Georgia Southern University

Undergraduate & Graduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Happiness In Communities: How Neighborhoods, Cities And States Use Subjective Well-Being Metrics, Laura Musikanski, Carl Polley, Scott Cloutier, Erica Berejnoi, Julia Colbert

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

This essay, the fourth and last of a series published by the Journal of Social Change, is intended as a tool for community organizers, local policy makers, researchers, students and others to incorporate subjective well-being indicators into their measurements and management of happiness and well-being in their communities, for policy purposes, for research and for other purposes. It provides case studies of community-based efforts in five different regions (São Paulo, Brazil; Bristol, United Kingdom; Melbourne, Australia; Creston, British Columbia, Canada; and Vermont, United States) that either developed their own subjective well-being index or used the Happiness Alliance’s survey instrument …

Entrepreneurial Motivations And Characteristics Of Niger Delta Youths: An Exploratory Study, Anthony O. Aligba, Gene E. Fusch

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

This article explored the lived experiences and perceptions of youths in the Niger Delta regarding the factors that influence the decision to become an entrepreneur. Drawing from the theories of motivation and planned behavior, the conceptual framework of this phenomenological study underscored the synergetic relationship between entrepreneurial motivations and characteristics. Using semistructured interviews to collect primary data, 20 youth small and medium enterprise owners shared their perceptions and lived experiences regarding their perceived entrepreneurial motivations and characteristics. The analysis and coding of data helped to identify emergent themes based on the modified van Kaam seven-step approach. The research findings revealed …

Classical Music As An Instrument To Foster Leadership Skills For Social Change: The Case Of Venezuela’S El Sistema, Marco Aponte Moreno, Lance Lattig

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

El Sistema, the Venezuelan system of youth orchestras, is a program aimed at teaching and performing classical music through the development of a free network of symphony orchestras and choruses nationwide. Since its creation in 1975 by its founder José Antonio Abreu, El Sistema has given thousands of Venezuelan children, who often come from unprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds, the opportunity to receive free classical music education while promoting their personal, intellectual, spiritual, social, and professional development. The purpose of this article is to analyze El Sistema’s potential to foster leadership skills for social change. After providing an overview of …

Book Review: Social Changes In A Global World By Ulrike Schuerkens, Ligia E. Toutant

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Walden University’s social change approach is an essential part of its vision and is transmitted through the academic work and knowledge of its graduates, who are trained to find solutions to critical societal challenges in pursuit of advancing the greater global good. Schuerkens’ Social Changes in a Global World can serve as a compendium for the Walden family and others interested in this topic. The author examines how social transformations and changes are connected to issues of power and political influence; how transformations and changes have been influenced by concepts of modernity, progress, and rationalization; how transformations and changes differ …

The Relationship Between Social Change Involvement And Education, Michelle S. Brown, Beate Baltes

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Positive social change is part of Walden University’s mission. As such, the institution sponsored the Social Change Impact Report, which includes data from three online surveys that investigated participants’ experiences with social change because factors related to involvement in social action to improve the lives of individuals and communities are not fully known. Data were collected from the Social Change Impact Report to examine the relationship between the level of education an individual has achieved and how they rate the importance of and the involvement in positive social change activities. Results of chi square and analysis of variance indicated …

Small Business Issue: “How Do We Avoid The Speed Trap And Not Get Hit By The Speeders?”, Dave Mcmahon, Stephen M. Rapier, Michael Mccall

AMTP Proceedings 2017

The authors examine the use of online panels, the assumptions that are being made, and the dangers of those assumptions for small business. Specifically, the authors investigate the existence and possible effects of speeders. They conclude with a discussion of the implications and how to avoid falling into the traps that this problem may create.

On Being Disrupted: Youth Work And Black Lives Matter, Angela Marie Bonfiglio

Journal of Youth Development

Youth workers are constantly figuring out how to respond to their young people, especially in times of disruption. The Black Lives Matter movement came close to home in the aftermath of the shooting by police of Jamar Clark, a young black man in north Minneapolis. This article is a reflection on the tensions that six area youth workers faced and the variety of roles that they played in working with their young people. The goal of this paper is to inspire other youth workers to be bold to act in times of disruption in order to support their young people …

Domicile Dismantled, Kerry Abrams, Kathryn Barber

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Strength In The Face Of Adversity: Resilience Among Mexican Nationals And Mexican Immigrants To The United States, Melissa L. Morgan, Rufus R. Gonzales

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

This exploratory, qualitative study looks at resilience in Mexican Nationals and Mexican Immigrants. Eight Mexican Nationals and six Mexican Immigrants participated in one to three hour semi-structured interviews that asked about their perceptions of stressors, motivation and success in life. Participant responses were analyzed thematically for resilience using Thematic Analysis (Boyatzis, 1998). Contrastive Analysis of themes indicated that resilience can differ based on cultural circumstances (i.e., Mexican National/Mexican Immigrant) given that barriers and therefore potential gains differ by population. In further results, resilience was highlighted as the result of a process, or combination and interaction of experiences as opposed to …

Reframing Learning To Teach Diversity: Multicultural Curriculum Within A Cosmopolitan Context, Seungho Moon

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

This qualitative study explores the possibilities of reframing multicultural teacher education in the context of critical cosmopolitanism. I examine the ways in which 34 pre-service and in-service teachers learn to teach diversity and multicultural issues in their curriculum. I use three sets of coursework materials, including course discussions, small group presentations, and midterm and final papers to investigate their conceptualisations of diversity and equity issues in education. I present two salient themes as they reframe to teach diversity by reviewing both local and global conflicts: (a) analysing the frame of recognition and (b) revisiting the notions of self-other and interrelationality. …