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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Diffractive Possibilities: Cultural Studies And Quantification, Ezekiel J. Dixon-Román Dec 2015

Diffractive Possibilities: Cultural Studies And Quantification, Ezekiel J. Dixon-Román

Ezekiel J Dixon-Román

The belief in the methods of quantification has not been widely shared in cultural studies. On the one hand, the dominant orientation of quantitative social science research continues to hold on to positivist assumptions of objectivity and the privileged access to the “truths” of natural phenomena via the logics of mathematics. On the other hand, cultural studies has maintained a hermeneutics of suspicion toward the methods of quantification. But, to what extent does this suspicion toward quantitative inquiry compromise the deconstructive project of cultural studies by falling into the trap of the quantitative/qualitative and, related, nature/culture binaries? Building on new …

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Effects Of Stretch-Based Progressive Relaxation Training On The Secretion Of Salivary Immunoglobulin A In Orofacial Pain Patients, Jeffrey Sherman, Charles Carlson, James Mccubbin, John Wilson Jul 2014

Effects Of Stretch-Based Progressive Relaxation Training On The Secretion Of Salivary Immunoglobulin A In Orofacial Pain Patients, Jeffrey Sherman, Charles Carlson, James Mccubbin, John Wilson

James A. McCubbin

There is a growing body of evidence that psychologic stressors can affect physical health and proneness to disease through depletion of the body's immune system. Relatively little research, however, has investigated the potential immunoenhancing effect of stress-relieving strategies such as progressive muscle relaxation. This study explored the relationship between immune functioning and relaxation training with persons experiencing persistent facial pain. In a single experimental session, 21 subjects either received relaxation training or rested for an equivalent time period. Salivary immunoglobulin A, mood, pain, and tension levels were measured before and after relaxation and rest periods. Results indicated that a greater …

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Regression Analysis And The Sociological Imagination Dec 2013

Regression Analysis And The Sociological Imagination

Fernando De Maio

Regression analysis is an important aspect of most introductory statistics courses in sociology but is often presented in contexts divorced from the central concerns that bring students into the discipline. Consequently, we present five lesson ideas that emerge from a regression analysis of income inequality and mortality in the United States and Canada.

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Marriage And Divorce: Changes And Their Driving Forces, Betsey Stevenson, Justin Wolfers May 2008

Marriage And Divorce: Changes And Their Driving Forces, Betsey Stevenson, Justin Wolfers

Betsey A Stevenson

We document key facts about marriage and divorce, comparing trends through the past 150 years and outcomes across demographic groups and countries. While divorce rates have risen over the past 150 years, they have been falling for the past quarter century. Marriage rates have also been falling, but more strikingly, the importance of marriage at different points in the life cycle has changed, reflecting rising age at first marriage, rising divorce followed by high remarriage rates, and a combination of increased longevity with a declining age gap between husbands and wives. Cohabitation has also become increasingly important, emerging as a …

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Pedagogical Notes On Statistics And Human Rights, Fernando De Maio Dec 2007

Pedagogical Notes On Statistics And Human Rights, Fernando De Maio

Fernando De Maio

The notion of measuring human rights can be used with students beginning their studies of statistical analysis to foster a sense of creativity and encourage critical thinking. This article outlines ideas for four lessons which incorporate statistical analysis of human rights, from graphing the right to health using illness concentration curves to using ordinary least squares regression to examine differences in the human rights reporting of Amnesty International and the US State Department. Classroom discussion of measuring human rights can be used to stimulate an awareness of the need to examine statistics as products of socio-political forces.

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Estimating Mortality In War-Time Iraq: A Controversial Survey With Important Implications For Students, Fernando De Maio Dec 2006

Estimating Mortality In War-Time Iraq: A Controversial Survey With Important Implications For Students, Fernando De Maio

Fernando De Maio

In teaching introductory quantitative methods in sociology, I have used a controversial survey of mortality in Iraq before and after the 2003 invasion to highlight to students the power of simple questionnaires, the role of ambiguity in statistics, and the place of politics in the framing of statistical results. This brief report summarizes Roberts et al’s estimate that the invasion of Iraq resulted in 98,000 (95% CI = 8,000 – 194,000) deaths, as well as the intriguing reaction that the survey received in the press. Statistics teachers should find the Roberts et al study to be an effective way to …

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