Digital Commons Network^™

Sociology / Demographics - Cornell University, Keith Jenkins

Data Curation Profiles Directory

The researchers interviewed for this data curation profile use data from the US Census and other federal and state government sources and process, analyze, and distribute the data on the project website in a way that makes the data more accessible and easier to use. The researchers also produce analytical reports that are also available on the website. The data management needs center around the researchers’ desire to utilize an external data repository to reduce the effort required to maintain the data on their website. The researchers would need the repository to offer similar web APIs to what they currently …

Post-Conflict Cultural Revival And Social Restructuring In Northern Uganda, Erin Cagney

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

In northern Uganda, cultural revival has become a major topic of concern after the decades-long civil conflict that displaced 1.9 million people. During that time, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted an estimated 20,000 children and adults as mercenaries, porters, and sex slaves, and killed and mutilated thousands of others. The LRA wreaked general havoc on the entire northern population, contributing to the ensuing psychological and physical traumas that accompany such an experience. In the chaos and devastation of the protracted conflict, many cultural practices have fallen to the wayside, including dances, songs, folktales, marriage rites, social norms and rules, …

Reconstructing World Politics: Norms, Discourse, And Community, Sungjoon Cho

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article argues that the conventional (rationalist) approach to world politics characterized by political bargain cannot fully capture the new social reality under the contemporary global ambience where ideational factors such as ideas, values, culture, and norms have become more salient and influential not only in explaining but also in prescribing state behaviors. After bringing rationalism’s paradigmatic limitations into relief, the Article offers a sociological framework that highlights a reflective, intersubjective communication among states and consequent norm-building process. Under this new paradigm, one can understand an international organization as a “community” (Gemeinschaft), not as a mere contractual instrument of its …

Reflections On Visual Field Research, Kenneth Tunnell

Justice Studies Faculty and Staff Research

This article describes ongoing visual field research by focusing on its self-reflective and auto-ethnographic components. Photographs and field notes are presented and personal encounters from the field are described. Recognizing the symbiotic order of the personal and political, the author details confrontations and emotions from ongoing efforts at recording visually.

What Does A Sociology Without Borders Look Like?, Tanya Golash-Boza

Societies Without Borders

In this essay, I consider what a sociology without borders would look like through an exploration of two questions: 1) How can sociology be mobilized to make the world a better place? and 2) What does a sociology of human rights look like? To answer these questions, I take the reader through a discussion of the history of Sociologists without Borders, the influence of Professor Judith Blau, and my own excursions into the sociology of human rights in the United States and abroad.

Merit And Mobility: A Progressive View Of Class, Culture, And The Law, Lucille A. Jewel

Scholarly Works

Rising income inequality and financial trauma in the middle class beg the question of whether social mobility, long a part of America’s narrative identity, is truly available to Americans residing in the lower rungs of society. This paper addresses the connection between culture and social mobility, looking particularly at how culture impacts social outcomes in America’s meritocratic educational system. Analyzing culture and cultural capital from a progressive perspective, this paper concludes that culture operates subtly, helping some retain or improve their existing position but interfering with the mobility of others. The rhetoric of individual merit, however, obscures the role that …

Marketing Masculinity A Content Analysis Of Gender Role Presentations In Super Bowl Commercials At The Turn Of The 21st Century, Allison Whitcomb

Theses & ETDs

Developments throughout the past century illustrate an abundance of progressive changes regarding gender, leaving us in uncharted territory with new understandings. This thus presents a unique opportunity to explore current portrayals of gender in society. An analysis of Super Bowl commercials, some of the largest commercial campaigns in America (Tomkovick, Yelkur, Christians 2001; McAllister 1999), provides a look into gender presentations in American media. Advertisements in particular are arguably one of the most powerful societal influences, reflecting social norms and revealing what is regarded as most desirable. The Super Bowl itself also embodies many aspects of "American" values, based on …

King Of The Hill's Souphanousiphones, The New Model Minority, And The Subversive Model Minority, Robert Reece

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though the term "model minority" was only coined in the 1960s to apply to Asian-Americans, in the white imagination, a "model" way to be a minority has always existed. This model has gone through various iterations from the "happy" blacks of the antebellum years to supposedly over-achieving Asian-Americans of the 1960s. I argue that we are witnessing the emergence of a new model minority that includes not only Asian-Americans but other high-achieving minorities as well. This model minority is characterized by economic success, formal education, American values, and conservative racial politics or a complete silence about race. Because an inability …

Exploring Theology And Practice In Islamic Parenting, Mergin Akin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore Muslims’ parenting styles and determine how factors such as religion, education, income, physical and verbal punishment experienced as a child, and the perception of Islamic childrearing influence their parenting styles. The research focuses on the main tenets of parenting in the Islamic tradition such as fatherhood, motherhood, children’s and parent’s rights and responsibilities, discipline methods, and physical punishment. The study also informs the role of marriage in Islam and the adopted concepts and theories of Western sociological literature. Findings show that authoritative parenting was the most predominant parenting style among study participants. …

The Sociological Impact Of Cancer: Cancer Among The World, Jenna Kooy

A with Honors Projects

Cancer among ethnic groups and in high income/low income regions.

Sociological Impact On Cancer, Michelle Little

A with Honors Projects

Demographics of cancer and other sociological impacts on cancer.

Culture, Place And Identity In A Mobile Community, Genevieve Ramsey Cox

Doctoral Dissertations

Contemporary communities are no longer necessarily bound by the confines of a specific locality due to spatial mobility. My dissertation examines if and how mobile individuals may create community, the culture of one group, and the significance of place amidst mobility for creating community in modernity. I analyzed three years of ethnographic field notes and 44 interviews with individuals who attend the yearly arts event Burning Man in the Nevada desert. After the event, these burners return to their home environments, most of which are on the American west coast, but also spend a significant portion of their time traveling …

Created In The Image Of: Mormonism And The Rhetorical Production Of Identity In Privately-Published Family Histories, Michael K. Peterson

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a qualitative study of seven privately-published family histories written by descendants of Mormon polygamists. Using methods of discourse and rhetorical analysis, these texts and various interviews are analyzed with the contention that identity is a rhetorical production and that the authors (either intentionally or unwittingly) fictionalize each of the identities involved---their own, their readers', and their ancestors'---to bring them together in moments of Burkean identification. These moments of identification are also analyzed in terms of communal and generational memory, temporal proximity, and communal discourses. An important conclusion in this study is that this rhetorical production of identity …

Testing The Procedural Justice Model Of Legal Socialization: Expanding Beyond The Legal World, Rick Trinkner

Doctoral Dissertations

The procedural justice model of legal socialization predicts that perceptions of legitimacy and cynicism toward rules mediate the relation between procedural justice and engagement in rule-violating behavior. This dissertation used a multi-methodological approach to test this model in terms of three authority figures: parents, police, and teachers. In Study 1, cross-sectional methodology was used to test the model in a community sample of adolescents and young adults. Participants completed online surveys assessing the degree to which they perceived three authority figures as procedurally fair, the degree to which they perceived the authorities as legitimate, how cynical they were about the …

Anxious Lives: Tracing The Life Course Of A Medical Diagnosis Through Illness Narratives, Jennifer J. Esala

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a study of medical diagnosis, specifically anxiety disorder diagnosis, from the perspective and through the narratives of people who have been diagnosed. In this study, I address two core research questions. First, how does social materiality (e.g., bodies and objects) contribute to, shape, and lend empirical understanding to the experience of an anxiety disorder and the experience of illness in general? Second, how does medical diagnosis translate from the medical institution into the lives of people who have been diagnosed, and how do those diagnoses transform in and through the social lives of people? To address these …

Violent Socialization Processes And Criminal Behavior: An International Perspective On Variations In Social Control During Late Adolescence And Emerging Adulthood, Aimee Delaney Lutz

Doctoral Dissertations

Using Gottfredson and Hirschi's parental socialization thesis as a theoretical framework, the present study explores whether or not violent socialization processes are associated with criminal behavior, both at the micro-level and macro-level, across 32 different nations. Analyses were conducted on data from the International Dating Violence Study (Straus & Members of the International Dating Violence Research Consortium, 2004). Bivariate statistical analyses show that violent socialization tends to be more prevalent among nations with indicators of violence (e.g., laws supporting the death penalty) compared to nations without such indicators. The results of ordinary least squares regression analysis indicate that violent familial …

The Social Impact Of Diabetes, Denise Lujan

Natural Sciences Student Research Presentations

This poster describes the social impact of living with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Underrepresentation Of Females In Academia: A Relative Rate Index And System Dynamics Model, Nupur Garg

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Females continue to be significantly outnumbered by their male counterparts in the academic pipeline at the senior ranks. Confounding the problem is the inadequacy of tools used for measurement and analysis of it. A Relative Rate Index (RRI) is a better tool for measuring gender disparities of academic systems than calculating percentages of females in academia. An RRI determines the junctures and scales at which females fall out of the academic track. The RRIs for academic medicine departments at Yale were created using institutional records. Calculations indicate that the fallout for females in academia occurs from assistant to associate professor …

Flowers In The Trenches : The Experiences Of Women In The Landscaping Profession, Paul E. Calarco, Jr.

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research project aims to provide an in-depth analysis of women in the landscaping field. It is important to expand on the literature on nontraditional blue-collar occupations, as more women are moving into these jobs in this 21st century. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2001), the landscape and horticultural services industry is ranked 11th in the top twenty fastest growing service industries, almost two times the average for job growth. This occupation represents a significant, viable and fruitful arena for sociological investigation, as well a fantastic occupational option for women.

Discursive Fault Lines: Reproducing White Habitus In A Racially Diverse Community, Meghan Burke

Scholarship

This is a qualitative study detailing the links between racial discourse and social action. Specifically, this article provides evidence for the ways in which a white habitus is reproduced in a racially diverse community, despite the best intentions of its community members. This is chiefly due to the influence of national color-blind ideologies and the diversity discourse that follows. Because this ideology and discourse are individual in nature and centered on a white norm, it chiefly produces consumption-driven actions for individuals and collective action that protects those with racial privilege. While prior studies have detailed the influence of this ideology …

The Hyperactive Fan: Characteristics Of Online Fantasy Football Players, Christopher Patera

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examines fantasy football players and their leagues because sports are a large and influential aspect of society, with fantasy football as an emerging form of sport spectatorship that has recently gained widespread popularity. From leagues we can learn more about the social identity of sports fans and the meaning behind identifying oneself as a fantasy football player. I also examine the presence of masculinities within fantasy sports along with their influence with respect to the significant population of women affiliated with sports. Further, I explore emotional elements that are embedded within sports and how those factors apply to …

The Bi-Directional Relationship Between Juvenile Delinquency And Victimization, Emily Yearwood

Master's Theses and Capstones

The current study uses longitudinal data to examine the bi-directional relationship between delinquency and victimization and whether this relationship can be explained by possible mediating variables. Using longitudinal data from schools in four New Hampshire communities, results indicate a bi-directional relationship between victimization and delinquency exists such that reported victimizations are associated with increased future reports of delinquency involvement, and involvement in increased types of delinquency is associated with an increased likelihood of reporting experiences of victimization. Analysis is furthered with an examination of various types of delinquency and how the relationship is mediated by depression, self control, and time …

Internet Use And Sense Of Community Among Rural Adolescents, Rebecca Benson

Master's Theses and Capstones

There is currently a debate about the way Internet use affects community outcomes. Some suggest positive effects while others propose negative effects. The current study seeks to add to this discussion by using two waves of data to examine how frequency and type of Internet use affect sense of community in a sample of rural youth. Competing hypotheses are posed---Internet use will increase sense of community and Internet use will decrease sense of community. Using data from the Rural Youth Study, results indicate mixed effects of Internet use on sense of community dimensions, community attachment, support and emotional connection with …

Coming From Sounds Of Blackness: Exploring The Effects Of Hip-Hop On Views Of Race, Eliezer Bercasio

Master's Theses

Does the individual's frequency of listening to hip-hop music have an effect on whether or not they believe in a color-blind ideology? Using data from a 25-item questionnaire given to 165 participants drawn for a sample from an urban California college, this study tested six hypotheses in order to determine if such a connection exists. Results revealed that individuals who frequently listened to misogynistic rap were less likely to believe that race is a convenient way to categorize individuals, controlling for race, sex, and income. Thus, individuals who had a higher frequency of listening to hip-hop were less likely to …

Effects Of New Hampshire's Same-Sex Marriage Legislation On Married Same-Sex Couples And Their Families: A Preliminary Study, Amber J. Royea

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study explores the effects of New Hampshire's revised marriage statute and the ability to marry on married, resident same-sex couples and their families. The researcher used qualitative research methods in order to investigate the experiences of eleven participants in regards to the effects that marriage has had in their lives and the lives of their dependent and adult children. Based on the data and content analysis, a grounded theory of developing a same-sex marital identity emerged showing that the effects of marriage depend on an on-going interplay between personal and social contexts. Participants' lives were affected by marriage in …

All Those Like You: Identity Aggression And Student Speech, Ari Ezra Waldman

Articles & Chapters

Online and face-to-face harassment in schools requires a coordinated response from the school, parents, students, and government. In this Article, I address a particular subset of online and face-to-face harassment, or identity-based harassment. Identity-based aggressors highlight a quality intrinsic to someone’s personhood and demean it, deprive it of value, and use it as a weapon. They attack women, racial minorities, religious minorities, and other traditionally victimized groups. And, as such, they attack not only their particular victims but also their victims’ communities. Identity-based aggressors com- mit a constitutional evil not only because their behavior interferes with victims’ access to education, …

Psychosis In Films: An Analysis Of Stigma And The Portrayal In Feature Films, Yancy Aracena

Dissertations and Theses

Films have a major impact on popular beliefs in American society. The images and ideas in movies are absorbed without difficulties into the popular imagination. This effect can leave long-lasting impressions. Movies can inspire people to raise awareness of various issues such as mental illness but can lead to inaccurate assumptions and stigma. In this thesis, I write about the media and its portrayal mental illness and especially how mental illness can be cast in a negative light with little positive effects. I viewed films with depictions of mental illness and developed four categories for analysis: 1) ―The thin line …

Nostalgic Identities: A Study In The Interactive Process Of Mexican/ Mexican American Users In Facebook, Daniel Dominguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Online social networking is a growing phenomenon. All over the globe people engage in disembodied interactions with one another taking for granted a compression of time and space. Most social analysis of online settings has been studied from a symbolic interactionist perspective in which the concept of multiple/pluralized identity helps explain how users identify themselves in disembodied contexts.

This paper intends to discover how the Mexican / Mexican American identity is presented, managed and produced by users in the Social Networking Site Facebook using the concept of nostalgia in how identity is presented in a disembodied context.

How Rural Low-Income Mothers Use Resources To Work Non-Standard Schedules, Laura E. Andrew

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study's aim was to determine the resources used by rural low-income mothers' working non-standard schedules to manage stress and keep their families from a chaotic state. The Double ABCX theory of family stress guided this study. Resources identified were strong mental well-being, parental confidence and skills and large social support network. Data were collected from 51 rural low-income mothers who worked non-standard schedules, by surveys and interviews three separate times. It was found that mothers who had the resources of strong mental well-beings, strong parental confidence and skills and large social support networks had lower stress levels when working …

The Management Of Feral Pig Socio-Ecological Systems In Far North Queensland, Australia, Gabriela Shuster

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The development of management programs for socio-ecological systems that include multiple stakeholders is a complex process and requires careful evaluation and planning. This is particularly a challenge in the presence of intractable conflict. The feral pig (Sus scrofa) in Australia is part of one such socio-ecological system. There is a large and heterogeneous group of stakeholders interested in pig management. Pigs have diverse effects on wildlife and plant ecology, economic, health, and social sectors. This study used the feral pig management system as a vehicle to examine intractable conflict in socio-ecological systems. The purpose of the study was …