Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Social Functioning: A Sociological Common Base For Social Work Practice, Thomas J. Blakely, Gregory M. Dziadosz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article describes the experience of a social work mental health agency with Social Role Theory (SRT), that is an organizing concept for the delivery of its assessment and treatment program. SRT has been called the process variable of the program, meaning how services are delivered. Social functioning, a concept taken from SRT, is a treatment outcome. The overall purposes of the article are to describe the contribution of sociology to social work practice, and to advance the argument that social functioning is a common base for social work practice generally.

Data Note: Disability And Occupation, Frank A. Smith, David Clark

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

It is well-documented that people with disabilities have a significantly lower rate of employment than people without disabilities (36% versus 74% according to the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS). Less is known about the types of work they do. Using the occupational classification system within the ACS, researchers explored the prevalence of people with disabilities within occupational groupings and discuss its relationship to occupational growth. Future analysis will address variation across disability groups.

Preferred Coaching Behaviors Of Male And Female Basketball Players: Gender And Level Of Competition, Ryan Kettler

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate similarities and differences in coaching preferences among male and female basketball players based on gender and level of competition. Participants were 20 male and female basketball programs (2 NCAA Division I Teams, 4 High School Teams, and 4 Middle School Teams). The ages of the players ranged between 12 -24 years of age, with males and females having a comparable age distribution. The instrument used to collect data was the revised Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS) athlete preference version (Zhang & Jensen, 1997). The results of the statistical analyses using a two …

Demographic, Economic, And Social Transformations In The South Bronx: Changes In The Nyc Community Districts Comprising Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Longwood, And Hunts Point, 1990 - 2005, Astrid Rodríguez

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report analyzes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics among the five largest Latino nationality groups during 1990-2005 in South Bronx, specifically the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Longwood, and Hunts Point.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino subgroup in the South Bronx, accounting for over half of the total population by 2005 although their …

The Influence Of Adolescents' Educational Aspirations And Religiosity On The Desire To Marry Among High School Seniors, Erica Scott

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study uses data from the 2004 Monitoring the Future Survey (MTF) to evaluate how twelfth grader's educational aspirations and religiosity influenced their desire to marry. Previous research indicates that education attained and increased religiosity increases the probability of marriage (Bumpass, Sweet, and Cherlin 1991; Goldstein and Kenney 2001; Sweeney 2002; Thornton, Axinn, and Teachman 1995). Exchange theory explains that higher levels of education increase one's odds in the marriage market, and the actual act of marriage is perceived as a "reward" to highly religious individuals (Becker 1973; Blau 1964; Edwards 1969; Friedman and Hechter 1988; Homans 1974). Results …

Public Trust In The Mass Media, Lindsey Dixon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this research is to determine whether the public has an elevated amount of trust in the industry of the mass media. The data for the research come from the 2005 Eurobarometer 64.2. The participants consist of the population of the respective countries of the European Union Member States. The participants are all more than 15 years of age. The results of this study show that certain groups of people have an elevated amount of trust in the media, but overall the dependent variables used explain little with regard to trust in the mass media.

Examining Social Capital: A Theoretical And Empirical Assessment Using The Work Of Bourdieu, Coleman And Putnam, Brent Lovitt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The value that individuals attribute to their social ties with other residents can have an impact on the amount of crime that occurs within their own neighborhood. While previous criminological research has identified a negative relationship between the levels of social capital and victimization within neighborhoods, these studies often used different conceptualizations of social capital. This study seeks to extend previous research by examining the multiple dimensions of social capital within each classical approach and to assess each dimension's influence on self-reported violent victimization and property crime victimization in Chicago neighborhoods using data from the Project on Human Development in …

From Gay Street To Turkey Creek: Knoxville’S Urban And Suburban Growth Machines, Katherine Leigh Morris

Masters Theses

Using growth machine theory, this study examines the newly built "lifestyle center" of the suburban Turkey Creek development and the redevelopment of the Gay Street corridor in downtown Knoxville, TN. Growth machine theory is one of sociology's predominant theories used to understand development and growth projects in metropolitan areas, and although not specifically defined in current literature, I suggest there are many differences in suburban and urban growth machines. This study examines the local dependency and organization of pro-growth coalitions; the tactics, ideology, and culture used to promote development projects; and community reactions. Upon completion of this project, I found …

Eight Karats Of Justice: Analysis Of The Grassroots Resistance Movement Against Goldmining In The Villages Of Bergama, Turkey, Banu Aysu Koçer

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores and analyzes the grassroots movement against goldmining in the villages of Bergama, Turkey. The struggle of Bergama villagers started out as a local ecological resistance movement in the early 1990s and gradually transformed into an environmental justice movement with national implications when activists adopted a rights-based discourse by incorporating into their claims the notions of justice, democratic participation, and citizenship rights.

Since goldmining investment in Bergama was a manifestation of significant shifts in the global corporate mining industry starting in the 1980s, and of changes in the world political economy, an account of these shifts is presented …

The Social Ecology Of Parenting: Systematically Modeling The Antecedents Of Supportive And Intrusive Parenting, Julie A. Schluterman

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the significant contributions of this study is its inclusion of the role of social contextual factors in determining parenting. I built on the ecological model proposed by Belsky (1984). As such, the parenting model tested in this dissertation included individual level determinants of parenting: 1) parent characteristics (e.g., developmental history), and 2) child characteristics (e.g., behavior problems). Yet, rather than include a social context domain as described by Belsky, I distinguished between within family context (e.g., interparental hostility) and external to family context (e.g., work-family conflict, neighborhood disorganization) as social contextual sources of stress and support to the …

Gender Disparity In Nigerian Education: Women’S Experience Of Barriers To Equal Educational Opportunity, Eugene Okoli

Dissertations

Discrepancies between males and females in access to schooling, school completion rates, and participation in employment opportunities are still more the norm in some regions of the world than others. Limited access to education plagues women in Nigeria as well as in Sub-Saharan Africa. Disparity in access to educational opportunity is a pressing gender equity issue in Nigeria (World Bank, 2003).

Relatively few studies have focused on obtaining the viewpoints of women who experience this phenomenon. To hear the voices of these women regarding how they gained or were denied access to education in the Nigerian context, a cross-section of …

Felony Disenfranchisement Legislation: A Test Of The Group Threat Hypothesis, Angel Dawn Geoghagan

Doctoral Dissertations

The group threat hypothesis is part of the conflict theoretical perspective, which has been one of the most dominant and useful theories in the fields of criminology and criminal justice for decades. The usefulness of this perspective relates to the understanding it provides of how the law can be used by those in power as a measure of control. The use of law as a method of control has a long history in the US society, and there are many examples from which to pull. This project examines the use of one set of laws, felony disenfranchisement legislation, to determine …

Essays On Intrahousehold Allocation And The Family: Fertility, Child Education, And Nutrition, Alemayehu Azeze Ambel

Dissertations

Understanding the constraints that households face when making decisions on fertility, education, and health is beneficial for effective interventions aimed at enhancing investments in human capital, promoting gender equity, and reducing poverty. This dissertation consists of four essays that analyze the nature, performance, and determinants of fertility, child education, and nutritional status in a developing economy.

The first essay identifies peculiar constraints, including gender preference and income uncertainty that households face when making fertility and schooling choices. The underlying assumption in the theoretical analysis is that in the absence of formal risk and capital markets, households may revert to informal …

Counterterrorism And The Deterrence Doctrine, Casey E. Cordy

Masters Theses

The United States presently focuses much of its energy on the prevention of terrorism through particular counterterrorism policies and strategies. Today, deterrence is the primary theoretical basis for counterterrorism policies. If the United States invests so heavily in deterrence as a counterterrorism strategy, is it successful? If not, what are its theoretical flaws? Who is best served by efforts to prevent terrorism through a deterrent project?

This thesis will argue that a more appropriate understanding of terrorism is necessary. In order to achieve a more holistic conception of the terrorism problem, efforts should be made politically and theoretically to incorporate …

Groundwater: A Community’S Management Of The Invaluable Resource Beneath Its Feet, Nancy D. Brannon

Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the impact of human decisions on vital resources is a core task of environmental sociology, which studies the interaction between human society and the environment. The overarching theme of this research is the economicenvironmental relationship in U.S. public policy, using a case study of a specific environmental resource problem in a specific region. It fuses basic assumptions of two economic growth models (treadmill of production and the urban growth machine) to examine the extent to which these assumptions permeate the worldviews of policymakers and those who advise them. When the growth imperative is a priority in their …

A Trans-Tasman Business Elite?, Nicholas Harrigan, Shaun Goldfinch

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the close relationship between the Australian and New Zealand business communities to ask whether the relationship is best characterized as simply a bi-lateral trading relationship, or whether there is evidence of the formation of a transnational business community. This article also seeks to explore the nature of Australia—New Zealand integration, and specifically the degree to which the relationship is interdependent or asymmetrical. Data are drawn from quantitative sources — including a dataset developed from the IBISWorld's Largest 2000 Enterprises in Australia and New Zealand, Who's Who in Australia, and Who's Who in Business in Australia — and …

The Voice Transcription Technique: Use Of Voice Recognition Software To Transcribe Digital Interview Data In Qualitative Research, Jennifer L. Matheson

The Qualitative Report

Transcribing interview data is a time-consuming task that most qualitative researchers dislike. Transcribing is even more difficult for people with physical limitations because traditional transcribing requires manual dexterity and the ability to sit at a computer for long stretches of time. Researchers have begun to explore using an automated transcription process using digital recordings and voice recognition software (VRS). While VRS has improved in recent years, it is not yet available to the general public in a format that can recognize more than one recorded voice. This article outlines a strategy used to circumvent this problem and improve the speed …

Linguistic Research Strategies Versus Quantitative Research Strategies--Different Roles, Different Results, Joseph Yeager, Linda Sommer

The Qualitative Report

Selecting a statistical framework for a behavioral study has profoundly different results than does a linguistically framed research strategy. The linguistic strategy overcomes many limitations inherent in statistical strategies and offers more meaningful results. Inferential statistical studies often discuss how the findings “explain” the results of the study. Seldom mentioned is the fact that statistical explanations occur in terms of the framework of statistical methodology. Statistical explanations do not explain anything in terms of the actual behavior at issue and do not lead to subsequent interventions about the motivated choices for a target group. Linguistic strategies work especially well if …

Making Meaning Of Graduate Students’ And Preservice Teachers’ E-Mail Communication In A Community Of Practice, Janet C. Richards, Susan V. Bennett, Kim T. Shea

The Qualitative Report

This inquiry examined graduate students ’ and preservice teachers’ e-mail communication as they made decisions about supporting the instructional needs of children at-risk in a community of practice summer literacy camp. The correspondence gradually evolved from impersonal to interpersonal communication over a ten-week time span, and influenced the preservice teachers’ responses. S even themes were identified in the graduate students’ messages that ranged from questioning and complaining to promoting collaboration. The study illuminates the developmental stages of interpersonal relationships and demonstrates the reciprocal nature of interactive dialogue through the medium of e-mail communication. Conclusions are that long-term e-mail exchanges can …

“I Just See All Children As Children”: Teachers’ Perceptions About Inclusion, Jane M. Leatherman

The Qualitative Report

This narrative study examined teachers’ perceptions of their inclusive classrooms. Eight early childhood teachers responded to open-ended interview questions about their experiences teaching children with and without disabilities in the same classroom environment. The social constructivist view of teaching and learning is highlighted as the teachers construct their knowledge of inclusion and how it meets the needs of children with disabilities in the inclusive environment. The following themes emerged from interview analysis: the inclusive classroom is a great place for children, the teacher needs additional education, the teacher needs support from administrators and to be included in decisions about the …

Entre La Ra Ź On Y La Pasión: La Intimidad Sexual En Parejas Heterosexuales Ante La Empresa Preventiva Del Vih/Sida, Domingo J. Marqués Reyes, Sheilla Rodríguez Madera, Leida Matías Carrelo

The Qualitative Report

This article establishes heterosexual relationships as spaces out of control and, from Foucault’s view of power, positions them as answer to the discourses generated by society to control sexuality. This qualitative study included 20 Puerto Rican couples (11 seroconcordant and 9 serodiscordant) with the objective of identifying variables related to relationship satisfaction with sexual intimacy among women living with HIV/AIDS. Results evidence how in many instances sexual relations are, in fact, moments where passion precedes reason. By involving in high risk behavior, they ignore the preventive enterprise, distance themselves from reason and imposing passion. We come to conclusions about social …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions Of Asynchronous Online Discussion On Blackboard, Hsin-Te Yeh, Maria Lahman

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand students’ perceptions of using asynchronous on line discussion as a learning tool. Six pre-service teachers who took a course in educational technology applications for secondary grades at a Rocky Mountain region mid-sized university were selected to be interviewed. Phenomenological data analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The interviewees’ perceptions of the asynchronous on line discussions centered around purposes, group size, tools for learning, advantages/disadvantages, and the instructor’s role. The findings of this study provide instructors with helpful information on how students perceive asynchronous online discussion and also provide instructors …

Minority Students’ Perspectives On Chemistry In An Alternative High School, Renee Peterson-Beeton

The Qualitative Report

Latinas/os form the largest minority group in the U.S. and they are growing more rapidly than any other ethnic group in this country. However, the number of Latinas/os in chemistry is not proportional to their population; they are noticeably absent from the physical science fields. Little research has explored the circumstances that Latino students encounter in high school chemistry. In this exploratory study, four Mexican American students and one Native American student were interviewed and observed in a physical science class at an alternative school that enrolled predominantly Latino students. Five underlying themes were found: negative perceptions of science, benefits …

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall, Brad Howey

The Qualitative Report

No abstract provided.

Letting Go Of Data In Aboriginal Australia: Ethnography On “Rubber Time", Sara Stevens Zur

The Qualitative Report

While attempting to investigate modes of musical transmission among the Yol ŋ u People in Northeast Arnhem Land Australia, questions regarding the meaning of the word “research” led to the decisive abandonment of data collection. Specifically, the processes of observation, recording, and other typical Western means of genera ting data seemed to be in direct opposition to the way knowledge was traditionally shared. The author critically examines her multiple attempts at conducting this research, and discusses why eventually giving up on the research led to a more profound understanding.

Using Hermeneutic Phenomenology To Investigate How Experienced Practitioners Lear N To Communicate Clinical Reasoning, Rola Ajjawi, Joy Higgs

The Qualitative Report

This paper is primarily targeted at doctoral students and other researchers considering using hermeneutic phenomenology as a research strategy. We present interpretive paradigm research designed to investigate how experienced practitioners learn to communicate their clinical reasoning in professional practice. Twelve experienced physiotherapy practitioners participated in this research. Using hermeneutic phenomenology enabled access to a phenomenon that is often subconscious and provided a means of interpreting participants’ experiences of personal learning journeys. Within the philosophy underpinning hermeneutic phenomenology , researchers need to design a research strategy that flows directly from the research question and goals of the research project. This paper …

Media, Accounts, And Coherence: ‘De Facto’ Impression Management Of A Transgressing Sport Star In The Chicago Tribune, Erin Maureen Austin

Masters Theses

Using the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case as an example, this thesis attempts to understand how the media, specifically The Chicago Tribune, maintain the consistency of a certain representation given changing or new information. A full analysis of all 274 news articles found in The Chicago Tribune from June 30, 2003 (the date the alleged sexual assault took place) through August 31, 2004 (the day before the charges were dismissed), revealed five devices by which journalists managed Bryant’s image. These devices are: (1) case is not paramount, (2) case is hindering basketball, (3) external lures are to blame, (4) …

A Closer Look At Maternal Directiveness During Toddlerhood In A Lower Socioeconomic Sample, Ann Elizabeth Koelz

Masters Theses

The current study describes the directive behaviors of seven mothers with their toddlers ranging in age from 12 to 35 months throughout the day. This study explores the behaviors of a sample with lower socioeconomic status without the use of unnatural measures or artificial environments that may enhance the likelihood of observing atypical behaviors and perhaps perpetuate a deficit-based interpretation of the poverty context. Nine hours of observation for each dyad were collected as part of a larger study concerning the daily experiences of toddlers with the exception of one participant who dropped out of the study after three hours …

Extraction, Ecology, Exploitation, And Oppression: The Political Economy Of Coal In Appalachia, William R. Wishart

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the social and ecological problems associated with mountaintop mining in central Appalachia. Theoretical insights from world system theorists and other political economists are used to trace the roots of these problems to the historical progression of different modes of extraction in the region. The restructuring of the region’s social, cultural, and ecological systems to meet the needs of core production over time has perpetuated its position as a resource extractive periphery. This occurred in three major modes: a frontier mode, an agricultural mode, and an industrial raw materials mode. The last mode has been characterized primarily by …

Guest Speaker, Richard Mora

Richard Mora

No abstract provided.