Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ethnographic Activism And Critical Criminology, David C. Brotherton

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Methods And Techniques Of Sociological Research, Larry Au

Open Educational Resources

Sociological research—like all forms academic research—is a conversation. Like all conversations, sociology has established conventions, styles, and genres. To participate in this conversation, we first need to understand how sociologists make and substantiate claims. As an empirical social science, much of the sociological enterprise consists of the collection and analysis of data that allows us to measure, interpret, and theorize social relations. But because social life is complex, sociological inquiry also requires an understanding of the limitations of different methodological approaches and the positionality of the researcher. Furthermore, sociology is a diverse field: diverse in its objects of study, and …

Socioeconomic Conditions Of Foreign-Born And Domestic-Born Latinos In New York City, 1990-2018, Oscar Aponte

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction:

This study focuses on the socioeconomic conditions of the five largest Latino nationalities in New York City (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans, Ecuadorians, and Colombians) between 1990 and 2018. The report reveals significant differences in the socioeconomic status of Latinos and other racial and ethnic groups as well as between foreign-born and domestic-born Latinos.

Methods:

This report uses the American Community Survey PUMS (Public Use Microdata Series) data for all years released by the Census Bureau and reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa, (https://usa.ipums.org/usa/index.shtml). See Public Use Microdata Series Steven Ruggles, J. Trent …

Were Latinos Undercounted In The 2020 Census? An Assessment Of Latino Demographic Data From 2010 Through 2020, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction:

This report examines makes estimates about the Latino Population for 2020—in the United States, Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, and Houston—that differ dramatically from those published by the Census Bureau.

Methods:

This report uses population growth rates calculated from the raw data found in the American Community Survey (ACS) five-year files for each year between 2010 and 2019 and 2015 to 2019 to project ‘assumed’ population totals for 2020. It uses the American Community Survey PUMS (Public Use Microdata Series) data for all years released by the Census Bureau and reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population …

Shooting Trends Vary Across Areas Of New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Richard A. Espinobarros

Publications and Research

Recent reports point to slight reductions in New York City’s recent surge of shooting incidents. The number of shooting incidents was higher in 2020 and 2021 than in 2019, but the rate of increase appeared to be slowing. The degree of change varied across areas of the city.

Ensuring Survey Research Data Integrity In The Era Of Internet Bots, Marybec Griffin, Richard J. Martino, Caleb Loschiavo, Camilla Comer-Carruthers, Kristen D. Krause, Christopher B. Stults, Perry N. Halkitis

Publications and Research

We used an internet-based survey platform to conduct a cross-sectional survey regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the LGBTQ + population in the United States. While this method of data collection was quick and inexpensive, the data collected required extensive cleaning due to the infiltration of bots. Based on this experience, we provide recommendations for ensuring data integrity. Recruitment conducted between May 7 and 8, 2020 resulted in an initial sample of 1251 responses. The Qualtrics survey was disseminated via social media and professional association listservs. After noticing data discrepancies, research staff developed a rigorous data cleaning protocol. A second …

Quantitative Analysis Of Sociological Data, Joanna Dressel

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Data 334: Applied Research Syllabus (Sociology Department), Holly E. Reed

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus is for a one semester, upper-level (300-level) undergraduate course in applied sociological research. It focuses on the importance of research, research ethics, research design and methods, and the presentation and dissemination of research, as well as the application of research skills in everyday life.

Shooting Surge Beginning To Slow Across New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Richard A. Espinobarros

Publications and Research

Many cities in the United States experienced increased gun violence during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021. Shootings in New York City grew sharply in 2020 and remained elevated in 2021, but the degree of increase may be in decline. This databit looks at the percent change in shootings citywide by quarter and shooting incidents across the NYC boroughs by quarter from 2007 to 2021.

Testimonio And Counterstorytelling By Immigrant-Origin Children And Youth: Insights That Amplify Immigrant Subjectivities, Ariana Mangual Figueroa, Wendy Barrales

Publications and Research

This article seeks to amplify our scholarly view of immigrant identity by centering the first-person narratives of immigrant-origin children and youth. Our theoretical and methodological framework centers on testimonio—a narrative practice popularized in Latin American social movements in which an individual recounts a lived experience that is intended to be representative of a collective struggle. Our goal is to foreground first-person narratives of childhood as told by immigrant-origin children and youth in order to gain insight into what they believe we should know about them. We argue for the power of testimonio to communicate both extraordinary hardship and everyday experiences …

The Video Camera Spoiled My Ethnography: A Critical Approach, Katherine Gregory

Publications and Research

As videography and other media technologies are normalized in the field of qualitative methods for the purpose of data collection, there is a growing need to discuss the benefits and limitations of these data collection tools. This article chronicles an ethnographic video study focused on the experiences of Muslim adults living in the Netherlands, and why the author opted to end the project. Issues focus on reckoning with the imperial gaze of the camera, performative behavior of participants before the camera and interdisciplinary tensions the researcher faced from conflicting trainings as a qualitative methodologist and media practitioner.

Reducing Gun Violence In New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Sheyla A. Delgado

Publications and Research

Most large American cities experienced falling client crime rates in recent decades, with New York City only being second to San Diego is the scale of its decline. This databit looks at the array of initiatives the city implemented to address gun violence as a possible contribution to the decline.

Who Pays For Gun Violence? You Do., Edda S. Fransdottir, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

The total economic impact of gun violence is unknown. Studies focus on the direct and short-term expenses immediately following a shooting but often exclude the long-term and far-reaching effects of gun violence on the victim, their family, and their community. Available data vastly underestimate the full economic impact of firearm injuries in the United States, including the fact that taxpayers often get the bill.

Is Lying Contagious? Spatial Diffusion Of High-Yield “Satellites” During China’S Great Leap Forward, Hongwei Xu, Geng Tian

Publications and Research

Situated in China’s Great Leap Forward (GLF) campaign in 1958, this study examines the spatial diffusion of “launching high-yield satellites”— exaggerating grain yields, which contributed to the 1959–61 GLF famine that claimed millions of human lives. The authors conceptualize exaggerating grain yields as a political innovation adopted by local cadres to endorse the GLF and signal political loyalty to their superiors. Using geocoded county-level event history data from historical newspaper archives, the authors found that the diffusion of exaggerating grain yields across the country was primarily driven by the interaction between geographic proximity and political proximity.

Easily Overstated: Estimating The Relationship Between State Justice Policy Environments And Falling Rates Of Youth Confinement, Douglas N. Evans, Gina Moreno, Kevin T. Wolff, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Researchers used state-level data on youth justice policies and practices to explore the association between state policy environments and recent changes in the use of residential placements for adjudicated youth (i.e., confinement). The study assigned a score to each of the 50 states based on the extent to which their youth justice policy environments could be considered "progressive" as opposed to punitive or regressive. Using data from the National Center for Juvenile Justice's compendium of justice system characteristics, "Juvenile Justice, Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics" (JJGPS), the research team created an index that accounts for 16 policies that are more …

Older Adults Responsible For Total Growth In Drug Arrests, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

After years of decline, adults 25 and older were responsible for increasing drug crime arrests after 2015. In contrast, young adults, teenagers, and children experienced drug arrest drops. This databit looks at the drug violation arrest rates from 2000 to 2018 and trends between various age groups.

Youth Still Leading Violent Crime Drop: 1988-2018, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Violent crime arrest rates fell among all age groups but especially for youth under age 18. This databit looks at violent crime arrests and weapon offense arrests from 1988 to 2018 for various age groups.

Cs+Sociology: Global Inequality Lab 2, Elin Waring, Janet Michello

Open Educational Resources

These materials include background for the instructor and a lab that engages student in an analysis of global inequality while learning and using the R language (a programming language for statistics). Students ultimately write a function to access country level data from the CIA World Factbook.

Mixed News About Youth Violence In Recent Fbi Crime Data, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

FBI crime data displayed a slight increase in violent crime rates between 2016 and 2017. Media reports on this variation did not always mention that violent crime rates are still near a 35-year low. This databit shows the rates of youth arrested for violent crimes between 1982 and 2017.

Gun Violence Is Not An “Inner City” Problem, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Policy debates about gun violence often focus on cities. This data bit showed how 33 states in the U.S. compare regarding gun violence rates, demonstrated how gun violence rates are not an issue exclusive to cities, and tested whether states conform to the conventional narrative of "urban gun violence."

Critical Care: The Important Role Of Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs, Douglas N. Evans, Anthony Vega

Publications and Research

Hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIP) recognize the importance of supporting the needs of violence survivors and their families to help prevent retaliation and other violence from reoccurring. This report discusses the need for evaluations and further research for HVIPs as the shift towards understanding violence through a public approach increases.

Online Communication Settings And The Qualitative Research Process: Acclimating Students And Novice Researchers, Katherine Gregory

Publications and Research

In the last 20 years, qualitative research scholars have begun to interrogate methodological and analytic issues concerning online research settings as both data sources and instruments for digital methods. This article examines the adaptation of parts of a qualitative research curriculum for understanding online communication settings. I propose methodological best practices for researchers and educators that I developed while teaching research methods to undergraduate and graduate students across disciplinary departments and discuss obstacles faced during my own research while gathering data from online sources. This article confronts issues concerning the disembodied aspects of applying what in practice should be rooted …

Super-Diversity As A Methodological Approach: Re-Centering Power And Inequality, Sofya Aptekar

Publications and Research

Super-diversity as a methodological lens calls for a study of dynamics of new and diversified social groups that moves away from more traditional approaches focused on ethnicity. In examining the potential of super-diversity as a methodological lens, I identify a risk of downplaying the effect of “old” categories of difference that are likely to continue to shape social structures as well as space. I propose a re-centering of power and inequality in the study of super-diversity by situating its study within an urban culturalist approach, with sociological tools borrowed from ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism. This proposal is illustrated through the …

The Effects Of Cure Violence In The South Bronx And East New York, Brooklyn, Sheyla A. Delgado, Laila Alsabahi, Kevin T. Wolff, Nicole Marie Alexander, Patricia A. Cobar, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

New York City launched its first Cure Violence program—which uses community outreach to interrupt violence—in 2010 with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. By 2017, there were 18 programs around the city. This report examines Man Up! Inc. in East New York, Brooklyn, and Save Our Streets South Bronx. Each neighborhood was compared to another neighborhood similar in demographics and crime trends but without a Cure Violence program. There is promising evidence that Cure Violence may help to create safe and healthy communities.

Repairing Trust: Young Men In Neighborhoods With Cure Violence Programs Report Growing Confidence In Police, Jeffrey A. Butts, Sheyla A. Delgado

Publications and Research

Researchers at John Jay Research and Evaluation Center found evidence to suggest the presence of Cure Violence — a place-based, public-health approach to violence reduction that relies on “outreach workers” and “violence interrupters” to prevent high-risk individuals from using violence to resolve conflicts — increases confidence in police in affected neighborhoods.

From Plato To Nato. 2,500 Years Of Democracy And The End Of History, Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Juveniles Lead Adults In Declining Rate Of Drug Crime, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics, juvenile drug arrest rates fell more drastically and quickly than drug arrests involving adults. This databit examined the trajectory for drug-related arrests between 1980 to 2015 and compared the peaks and declines in youth versus adults.

Young Men In Neighborhoods With Cure Violence Programs Adopt Attitudes Less Supportive Of Violence, Sheyla A. Delgado, Laila Alsabahi, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

New York City neighborhoods with operating Cure Violence sites show stronger declines in less violence-prone attitudes. This databit displays data collected by the NYCCure study at JohnJayREC. It demonstrates that the presence of Cure Violence in a neighborhood is associated with significant reductions in the willingness of young men to use violence in conflict situations.

Savings Rate: How Wraparound Advocacy May Reduce The Consequences And Costs Of State Commitment For Justice-Involved Youth, Douglas N. Evans, Megan O'Toole, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

John Jay College conducted a quasi-experimental evaluation of Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. by comparing justice system outcomes for a sample of Florida youth served by YAP, Inc. with a matched comparison sample of youth supervised by the public juvenile probation department. This report discusses the outcomes for YAP youth and provides estimations for the savings generated from reducing the need for commitment and out-of-home placement among court-involved youth.

Local Measures: The Need For Neighborhood-Level Data In Youth Violence Prevention Initiatives, Jeffrey A. Butts, Alana M. Henniger

Publications and Research

In an attempt to assist local jurisdictions with violence prevention, the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies launched the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention in 2010. More than a dozen cities participated in the National Forum, collaborating to increase the effectiveness of their local strategies for reducing youth violence. The Department of Justice asked John Jay College of Criminal Justice to monitor and assess the outcomes of the National Forum beginning in 2011. The study investigated the accomplishments and perceptions of the leadership networks in each city.