Digital Commons Network^™

Learning Disability Assessment And Student Retention Rate At Humboldt State University, Elizabeth K. Archibald

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The focus of this study was to determine how testing students for a learning disability at Humboldt State University impacts a student’s academic performance when they are diagnosed with a learning disability and use accommodations. The purpose of this study is to provide insight to administrators at Humboldt State University regarding the learning disability assessment program and how it relates to retention rates. Academic data of all students tested for learning disabilities from summer, 1999 through spring, 2002 (61 students total) were analyzed before testing and then at least one year later to determine the impact testing and accommodations had …

Farming Community In Transition: The Impact Of Sprawl On The Agricultural Legacy In The Bitterroot Valley, Jayne E. Barnes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Your Voice ~ Your Choice Coalition Transportation Committee Project, Dorothea Lynne Bott

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project was approached from a participant observer’s standpoint. It includes my experience and analysis of the group process involved in making changes in local transportation services. The project focused on transportation for senior citizens and younger people with disabilities. We were able to form a cohesive group of service providers and consumers of services, and we were able to influence public policy on the local level to some extent. We were also able to increase public awareness of the complexity of obtaining transportation in Humboldt County if a person happens to have a disability and a limited income. The …

Sociological Accessibility And The Institutionalizing Of Professional "Public Sociology", Ned Rinalducci

The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology

The author discusses the concept of Public Sociology, how it compares to the approach of Professional Sociology, and how The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology can advance and serve the discipline.

The World Is Still Round, And Sociology Is Still Flat, Ronald Wimberley

The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology

Expanded version of the keynote address for the annual meeting of the Georgia Sociological Association, St. Simon’s Island, October 21, 2005.

Changes In Economic Status And Timing Of Marriage Of Young Canadians, Zenaida R. Ravanera, Rajulton Fernando

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Abstract not available

Review Of Sociology: A Guide To Reference And Information Sources, By Stephen H. Aby, James Nalen, And Lori Fielding, Rebecca Tolley

ETSU Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Deterrence Versus Brutalization: Capital Punishment's Differing Impacts Among States, Joanna M. Shepherd

Michigan Law Review

Policymakers' false beliefs about capital punishment's universal deterrent effect may have caused many people to die needlessly. If deterrence is capital punishment's purpose then, in the majority of states where executions do not deter crime, executions kill convicts uselessly. Moreover, in the many states where the brutalization effect outweighs the deterrent effect, executions not only kill convicts needlessly but also induce the additional murders of many innocent people. After Part II discusses capital punishment's recent history in the United States, Part III reviews the conflict in recent studies on capital punishment and deterrence. Part IV explores differences in states' applications …

"Hitting Is Not Manly": Domestic Violence Court And The Re-Imagination Of The Patriarchal State, Rekha Mirchandani

ICS Fellow Lectures

No abstract provided.

"Hitting Is Not Manly": Domestic Violence Court And The Re-Imagination Of The Patriarchal State, Rekha Mirchandani

ICS Fellow Lectures

Flyer for Fall 2005 ICS Faculty Fellow Lecture by Rekha Mirchandani.

What Happens To The ‘Healthy Immigrant Effect’: The Mental Health Of Immigrants To Canada, Yimin Lou, Roderic Beaujot

PSC Discussion Papers Series

This study examines the mental health of Canada’s immigrants, relative to that of the native-born population, and makes a comparison between the longer term (ten or more years of residence) and more recent immigrants. The pattern of mental health may be explained by selectivity, structural strain theory from a macro perspective, or stress theory with a micro approach. Given available data, the study focuses on stress theory which suggests that persons with better mental health are either exposed to fewer stressors, or they cope better with their stress and adversity. The data are from Cycle 1.2 of the Canadian Community …

Why Are Canadians Having Children? An Investigation Of The Value Attributed To Children And Its Impact On Demand For Children, Melissa H. Moyser

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Previous studies in the value-of-children tradition of fertility research have examined the effect on demand for children of subjective perceptions of a particular value, or category of values, of children to parents. In their explanation of demand for children, they do not consider the possibility of the relevance of multiple or diverse single-handed values of children to parents. By investigating the impact of a non-specific measure of the values of children to parents—the value attributed to children—on demand for children, this study implicitly takes into account all of the values of children to parents that may be implicated in demand …

Shifts In Social Development And Fertility Decline In Iran: A Cluster Analysis Of Provinces, 1986-1996, Amir Erfani

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Iran is experiencing the third phase of demographic transition (low levels of birth and death), following a sharp fertility decline experienced during 1986-1996 period and is still underway. Using the analytic framework of Davis and Black, we examined the impact of social development and contraceptive prevalence, respectively as the structural and proximate determinants, on rapid fertility decline in Iran. We found that the social development level of provinces had a great impact on fertility decline through contraceptive prevalence indirectly. The cluster analysis of social development indices in 1986 and 1996 revealed that 15 out of 24 provinces of Iran moved …

Polygamous Marital Structure And Child Survivorship In Ghana: Age Dependent Effect?, Stephen Obeng Gyimah

PSC Discussion Papers Series

A key limitation of existing research on the influence of family structure on child outcomes in cultures characterized by widespread polygamy is the implicit view of marriage as monolithic and by default monogamous. In the African context, there is the need to make a distinction between polygamous and monogamous mothers since these marital circumstances imply varying levels of parental support necessary for optimum child outcomes. Using data from the 1998 and 2003 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys, this paper assesses the effects of polygamy on child survivorship. The study is guided by competing theses on the interconnectedness between polygamy and …

Aggregate Level Community Characteristics And Health, Jianlin Niu, Roderic Beaujot

PSC Discussion Papers Series

This study links aggregate data from the 2001 census to individual data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, using dissemination areas as the unit of aggregation. Individual-level considerations are found to be more important to self-perceived health than community-level characteristics. Education and income adequacy are the most important considerations. Sense of belonging to community overshadows the features measured at the aggregate level, be they economic, family, cultural or geographic considerations.

Pathways To Power: The Role Of Political Parties In Women’S National Political Representation, Sheri L. Kunovich, Pamela Paxton

Sociology Research

The authors extend previous research on women’s participation in politics by examining the role of female elites in political parties in selecting and supporting women as political candidates. They hypothesize that political parties, in their role as gatekeepers, mediate the relationship between country-level factors, such as women’s participation in the labor force, and political outcomes for women. The article focuses on three outcomes for women: the percentage of female political party leaders, the percentage of female candidates in a country, and the percentage of women elected. New cross-national measures of women’s inclusion in political parties are developed and analyzed in …

Getting Grounded In The Post Hometown World, Hedley Burrell, David E. Drew

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Remember when Americans had hometowns? "Where are you from?" we'd ask one another.

And the answer would come back: New York City. St. Joseph, Mo. Atlanta. Santa Barbara, Calif. Chattanooga, Tenn.

But odds are that now we'd get a more complicated response. It'd go something like this: "Well, I was born in Atlanta but we moved to Baltimore when I was 11 and in my junior year of high school, we went out to L.A. I've been in Chicago for a year."

And even this might not be quite accurate. The speaker may have been born in an Atlanta exurb …

Views Of Health Care Providers On Low-Income Populations In West Virginia With Sexually Transmitted Disease, Genevieve R. Cox

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis focuses on health care providers who consistently diagnose sexually transmitted disease (STDs) in low-income populations. Eighteen providers ranging from registered nurses to physicians were interviewed about their experiences dealing with low-income patients, mainly women, who were diagnosed with incurable and curable STDs for the first time. This qualitative analysis which utilized grounded theory methods reveals several interesting findings. First, that providers who consistently work with low-income populations have a high level of empathy. They believe patients undergo a negative change in self-image second to an incurable STD diagnosis. Providers have concerns about a number of issues related to …

The Life Course Trajectories Of Older Canadians, Zenaida R. Ravanera, Rajulton Fernando, Thomas K. Burch

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Abstract not available

Cohort And Social Status Differentials In Union Dissolution: Analysis Using The 2001 General Social Survey, Zenaida R. Ravanera, Rajulton Fernando, Thomas K. Burch

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Abstract not available

Young Canadians’ Family Formation: Variations In Delayed Start And Complex Pathways, Zenaida Ravanera, Rajulton Fernando, Thomas K. Burch

PSC Discussion Papers Series

This paper focuses on family formation of Canadians born in 1966-85. Studies have shown that in comparison to older cohorts, young Canadians delay their transition to adulthood and they follow more complex pathways in the formation of the family through cohabitation, marriage, and parenthood. However, within cohorts, there are variations in the general trends in timing and trajectories. Using a life course perspective, we explore the influences of social status, cultural orientation, and opportunity structures on family formation. This is done using retrospective data collected through the 2001 General Social Survey on Family History. Techniques of event history analysis, mainly, …

Familial And Environmental Influences On Longevity In A Pre-Industrial Population, Ryan Mazan, Alain Gagnon

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Data from historical populations provide an adequate context for the examination of the familial and environmental components of longevity. We have investigated the relation between sibling survivorship and longevity through French-Canadian children of a completed fertility cohort born between 1625 and 1704. The Cox regression model was used to analyze the effects of sibling survivorship on the survival time of these early Canadian inhabitants. Other covariates such as regional variation, secular trends (i.e. period effects), parental and spousal survival were also taken into consideration. Our findings show that individuals with at least one sibling surviving beyond 85 years of age …

Genome-Wide Identity-By-Descent Sharing Among Ceph Siblings, Alain Gagnon, Jan Beise, J. W. Vaupel

PSC Discussion Papers Series

The concept of genetic identity–by–descent (IBD) has markedly advanced our understanding of the genetic similarity among relatives and triggered a number of developments in epidemiological genetics. However, no empirical measure of this relatedness throughout the whole human genome has yet been published. Analyzing highly polymorphic genetic variations from the Centre d’études du polymorphisme humain (CEPH) database, we report the first genome–wide estimation of the mean and variation in IBD sharing among siblings. From 1,522 microsatellite markers spaced at an average of 2.3 cM on 498 sibling pairs, we estimated a mean of 0.4994 and a standard deviation of 0.0395. In …

Attitudes Toward Family Size Preferences Among Urban Ethiopians, Daniel Sahleyesus

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Making use of data obtained from a recent fieldwork conducted in five major urban centers of Ethiopia, this study examines attitudes of respondents on family size preferences to understand the fertility transition in urban areas. The methodology includes in-depth qualitative interviews and focus group discussions. Urban residents may not have a significantly different motivation as to why they would like to have children compared to people from rural areas. However, urban residents have a reproductive goal that take into account averting risks in the face of economic difficulties and tailoring preferences to achieve upward social mobility. Respondents give a reported …

Familial Orientations And The Rationales For Childbearing Behaviour, Amir Erfani, Roderic Beaujot

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Using a local qualitative sample from Ontario, we explore the rationales for childbearing behaviour across contrasting familial orientations. There are considerable similarities among respondents with traditional and modern familial orientations in terms of the reasons for having children and the costs and values of children. Nonetheless, persons with modern orientations are more likely to give individual related reasons for having children, and to see the value of children in terms of personal needs and desires. The largest difference relates to the ideal timing of childbearing, as persons with modern orientations are more likely to prefer childbearing in the late 20s …

Post-Reproductive Longevity In A Natural Fertility Population, Alain Gagnon, Ryan Mazan, Bertrand Desjardins, Ken R. Smith

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Fertility patterns may be useful markers for rates of biological aging. Based on evolutionary and socio-demographic approaches to historical data from the population of Québec (taken from the Registre de population du Québec ancien at the University of Montreal), we examine the effects of reproduction on longevity. Using Cox hazard models on about 2,000 couples married in the colony before 1740, we show that women bearing their last child late in life had longer post-reproductive lives, suggesting that late menopause is associated with an overall slower rate of aging. Increased parity had an opposite, detrimental effect on women’s post-reproductive survival. …

Re-Envisioning George Washington Gómez: A Historical And Biographical Verification Of A South Texas Novel, Diana Noreen Rivera

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The late Dr. Américo Paredes, in addition to his exemplary scholastic contributions to Mexican American scholarship, has achieved critical acclaim for his fiction. While scholars proclaim Paredes' fictional texts, which were written and set amidst a racially intensified social structure during the first half of the twentieth century, as remarkable portrayals of South Texas life, this paper calls for a “re-envisioning” of his literary works. Rather than a mere portrayal of South Texas society, using Paredes' most influential novel, George Washington Gómez , I explore the work's autobiographical content and assert that, because of its factual basis, scholars re-access his …

Family Models For Earning And Caring: Implications For Child Care, Roderic Beaujot, Zenaida Ravanera

PSC Discussion Papers Series

The bases for family change include an economy that provides more work opportunities for women, and a cultural orientation that values equal opportunity and legitimates family models other than the traditional breadwinner model. At the same time, both quantitative and qualitative evidence suggest a prevalent preference for making accommodations for children that include considerable time with children, especially in the infant and toddler years. Thus the average experience is for women to do less and for men to do more paid work in two-parent families that include young children in the home. Our reading of parental preferences suggests an interest …

The Matamoros “Drug Cult” Murders: Borderland Perceptions And The Shaping Of Belief, Victor Gomez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Media coverage of the Matamoros “drug cult murders” highlighted the abduction and murder of twenty-one year old college student, Mark Kilroy, while enhancing negative images of Mexican people. What makes the Kilroy coverage a watershed in history is how racism played a part during and after print media coverage of the discovery at Santa Elena. Through U.S. media especially, Anglo beliefs of cultural backwardness, Mexican police corruption, and religious misrepresentation are expressed by way of stereotypes held about Mexican border people. In this day and age, U.S. media uses these superficial beliefs to portray one group of people, and enhances …

Anth 3203 & Soc 3203 Course Development, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.