Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Creating Insanity In Learning Systems: Addressing Ambiguity Effects Of Predicting Non-Linear Continuous Valued Functions With Reconstructabilty Analysis From Large Categorically Valued Input Data Sets, William D. Eisenhauer

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Being told to give two different, and potentially counter, responses to the same stimulus can set up a double bind in humans, leading to a type of insanity. So what how do you deal with it when it comes up quite frequently in modeling through simplification and removal of predictive variables?

In his current dissertation research Ike Eisenhauer is using reconstructability analysis to implement K-System, U-System, and B-System approaches to predict a continuously valued function through discrete categorically valued input variables [e.g. textual data]. One of the key issues is how to address the inability of K-Systems and U-Systems to …

Generalists, Specialists, And The Best Experts: Where Do Systems Thinkers Fit In?, Joshua Hughes

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

GENERALIST / SPECIALIST: A generalist is someone who has studied a little bit of everything, and in the end knows nothing well in particular. By contrast, a specialist is someone who has studied a single subject, and as a consequence does not even know his own subject, because every item of knowledge is related to other components of the whole system. The good scholar or scientist--like the good chef, manager, clinician, or orchestra conductor--is an expert in one field or craft, and knowledgeable in many. Like a mouse, he can explore the details of a terrain; and, like an owl, …

State Experiences With Affordable Housing Plus Services: Report To Seniors And Persons With Disabilities, On The Move, Paula C. Carder, Erika Zoller

Institute on Aging Publications

Housing developers, providers, policy makers, and advocates, increasingly recognize that for some groups of individuals, access to affordable housing alone is "not enough." That is, some individuals require more than shelter. Examples include individuals who have chronic health conditions (e.g., HIV/AIDS), those with physical or cognitive limitations (e.g., persons with developmental disabilities, adults with physical disabilities), and those who have a combination of health conditions or who cannot thrive in traditional housing (e.g., persons who have been homeless, individuals with chronic mental illness). Increasingly, housing providers, social service agencies, advocates, states, and federal agencies have recognized the need to combine …

Sociology Of Islam & Muslim Societies, Newsletter No. 4, Tugrul Keskin

Sociology of Islam & Muslim Societies Newsletter

Table of Content:

• Introduction, Charles Kurzman
• An Interview with Dr. Y. Tzvi Langermann on Islamic Studies and Islam in Israel by Tugrul Keskin and Najm al-Din Yousefi
• The Islamicity of Different Interpretations of ḤIJĀB by Rachel Woodlock
• Representation of Islam and Muslims by the British Government Between 2001 and 2007 by Leon Moosavi
• Scholarly Research in the Madrassa: A Brief Overview by Maulana Waris Mazhari (Translated by Yoginder Sikand)
• Shah Mahmoud Hanifi’s lecture on the US Foreign Policy and Afghanistan: The Colonial Market for Afghan Languages by Lindsay N. Meath
• A New Book: The Clash of Modernities: The Islamist Challenge …

The Importance Of Interpersonal Discussion And Self-Efficacy In Knowledge, Attitude, And Practice Models, Joyee S. Chatterjee, Anurudra Bhanot, Lauren B. Frank, Sheila T. Murphy, Gerry Power

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study contributes to the theoretical discussions about the influence of education-entertainment programming on consumers of the genre. Data from the end-line evaluation of an EE program produced by the BBC World Service Trust in India, Jasoos (Detective) Vijay, is used. The analysis focused on 834 sexually active young men, the key demographic target audience for the program. Using structural equation modeling techniques, an initial knowledge, attitudes, and practices model is examined. Adding self-efficacy and interpersonal discussion improve this model. Not only is interpersonal discussion important, but the target others with whom that discussion occurs are also important for predicting …

Land Use And Crime Patterns In Coquitlam Detachment, Kathryn Wuschke, Patricia Brantingham, Jordan Ginther

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Poster presented to the Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies in 2009. Examines land use and crime patterns in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. Data shows that commercial and civic, institutional, and recreational land uses display the highest rates of all crime types under investigation in both Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam.

Inflammatory Biomarkers And Subclinical Atherosclerosis In African-American Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Sle), Edith M. Williams, Carlos J. Crespo, Joan Dorn

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Women with lupus are at increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Previous studies of atherosclerosis in SLE have not been representative of the minority groups most affected by lupus and its complications. Therefore, a study of 41 lupus cases and 83 controls was conducted to investigate the relationship between carotid atherosclerosis and inflammation in African-American women. Participation consisted of a questionnaire, physical examination, fasting blood draw, and ultrasound of the carotid arteries. There were observed differences between cases and controls with regard to carotid intima media thickness (IMT) and traditional cardiovascular risk factors, although few reached statistical significance. Tumor …

Students Who Are Moms: How Do They Do It?, Rhianna Marie Derscheid

Dissertations and Theses

Women with children are the fastest growing population of students within higher education. Women with children attempt to obtain a college degree for varied reasons, including self-development, social mobility, and to be a good role model for their children. Student moms face several obstacles in their attempts to obtain a college degree including financial constraints, childcare issues, marginalization, time constraints, and isolation. There is a paucity of research on student moms and the factors that contribute to their successful completion of a college degree. More research is needed to understand student moms’ experiences and to develop effective support programs within …

Occupational Health And Safety Status Of Indigenous And Latino Farmworkers In Oregon, Stephanie Farquhar, Nancy M. Goff, Nargess Shadbeh, Julie Samples, Santiago Ventura, Valentin Sanchez, Pamela Rao, Shelley Davis

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Exposure to pesticides poses great risk to agricultural workers and their families. Of the approximately 174,000 agricultural workers in Oregon, studies estimate that up to 40% of the workers in Oregon are indigenous and may be particularly vulnerable to the health risks of working in pesticide treated areas. Surveys conducted with Oregon farmworkers suggest that Latino and indigenous farmworkers differ demographically and may have diverse occupational and health needs. All Latino workers reported Spanish as their native language, while indigenous workers spoke several different native languages. Latino workers were employed mostly in orchards (28%) and nurseries (24%), while indigenous workers …

Community-Engaged Scholarship In Higher Education: An Expanding Experience, Judith A. Ramaley

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Higher education in this country has always been expected to serve the public good. Sometimes, the emphasis is on preparing educated citizens or practitioners in especially critical fields and how public service can deepen and enrich learning and prepare students to lead purposeful, responsible, and creative lives. Sometimes the focus is upon institutions themselves as major intellectual and cultural resources for a community. In this paper, based on the keynote presentation at the Community -- Engaged Scholarship for Health Collaborative's invitational symposium, the author explores four levels of engagement: the individual, the academic community and its concepts of scholarship, the …

Cartograms, Crime And Location Quotients, Martin A. Andresen, Kathryn Wuschke, J. Bryan Kinney, Patricia Brantingham, Paul J. Brantingham

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Visualizing spatial information has a long history in the field of cartography. Though there are generally accepted forms of spatial data visualization to represent different types of spatial data, the interpretation of the resulting maps tends to be subjective at best and incorrect, at worst. Cartograms are an increasingly popular form of spatial data visualization, recently applied in political and epidemiological analyses in an attempt to better represent the spatial data under analysis. We use the cartogram procedure to map crime rates and location quotients. Using this visualization approach, we are able to show the usefulness of cartograms to represent …

Land Use Based Crime Rates: Exploring Patterns Of Land Use And Crime Rates In Coquitlam And Port Coquitlam, Kathryn Wuschke

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

While it is certainly valuable to understand the counts of specific crime types by location, in order to contextualize the relationships between these features, rates are needed. Table 1 further explores this relationship by calculating the rate of each crime by land use. While rates are often employed using population as a denominator, such a measure is not practical when exploring crime at the parcel level. In this case, rates have been calculated according to crimes per 100 lots, producing an understandable and comparable value across all categories of land use and crime.

Land Use & Crime: Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam: Exploring How Violent, Property, Mischief And Drug Offences Relate To Land Uses, Kathryn Wuschke

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam are two suburban cities that are currently undergoing rapid physical changes. In order to accommodate growing urban populations both within these locations, and in the wider surrounding region, Coquitlam Centre area has been designated as a Regional City Centre. It is intended to act as a downtown core for the neighbouring municipalities, and as such, is experiencing rapid redevelopment, focusing on mixed land uses and dense residential/commercial mixes. In an effort to understand and model the shifts in crime types and densities that may be associated with this redevelopment, ICURS has begun exploration of the relationship …

Building The Evidence Base For Family Drug Treatment Courts: Results From Recent Outcome Studies, Beth L. Green, Carrie Jeanne Furrer, Sonia D. Worsel, Scott W. M. Burrus, Michael W. Finigan

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Results from at least four studies of FDTCs found evidence for their effectiveness in assisting and supporting parents in entering, remaining in, and completing substance abuse treatment so they could be reunited with their children; however, different program models achieved different outcome patterns. The Pima County (Arizona) study found positive effects for treatment completion, family reunification, and reduced times to permanent placement. Two other programs showed consistent positive treatment and child welfare outcomes. Neither of these two sites produced reduced time to permanent placements. The two most successful sites were longstanding FDTCs whose models aligned closely with the core program …

The Relationship Of Group Support, Majority Status, And Interpersonal Dependency In Predicting Intimate Partner Violence, Mary Elisabeth Gray

Dissertations and Theses

One of the most common community responses to intimate partner violence is batterer intervention programs (BIPs), which are aimed at ending perpetrators' violent behavior. Unfortunately, however, the success rates of BIPs are questionable (Aldarondo, 2002; Gondolf, 2002) and we do not know what factors of the program facilitate decreases in abusive behavior when this does occur. Specifically, it is unknown whether and how individual characteristics interact with intervention group dynamics to facilitate change. To better understand this gap in the literature, this study investigated the relationship between social support, group majority-minority status, and interpersonal dependency in predicting intimate partner violence. …

Diverse Contexts Of Reception And Feelings Of Belonging, Alex Stepick, Carol Dutton Stepick

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The theoretical focus of this paper is the context of reception experienced by migrants in their new homeland. In particular we examine relations between established residents and newcomers or immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, and other Caribbean and Latin American nations in South Florida. Based upon long term fieldwork among late adolescents and young adults, we develop a framework and give ethnographic examples of established resident-newcomer relations that influence the contexts of reception for immigrants in South Florida. These contexts range from positive to negative, vary between national and local settings, and change over time.

Esl Placement And Schools: Effect On Immigrant Achievement, Rebecca Callahan, Lindsey Wilkinson, Chandra Muller, Michelle Frisco

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, the authors explore English as a Second Language (ESL) placement as a measure of how schools label and process immigrant students. Using propensity score matching and data from the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors estimate the effect of ESL placement on immigrant achievement. In schools with more immigrant students, the authors find that ESL placement results in higher levels of academic performance; in schools with few immigrant students, the effect reverses. This is not to suggest a one-size-fits-all policy; many immigrant students, regardless of school composition, …

Immigrant-Established Resident Interactions In Miami, Florida, Alex Stepick, Carol Dutton Stepick

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article examines factors that affect interethnic relations in Miami, Florida. The theoretical framework, based on the ‘contact hypothesis’ argues that better interethnic relations stem from not only contact, but also contact in which individuals from opposing groups share equal status and a stake in outcomes, and when contact activities require cooperation. The contact hypothesis, however, does not address the factors that produce inequality in social relations. To address these factors ideas from international migration research are used to argue that those with power must create structures in which other groups feel welcome rather than rejected and that leaders must …

The Effects Of Marriage On Psychological Well-Being Focusing On Motherhood Status Prior To Marriage, Hyeyoung Woo, R. Kelly Raley

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A substantial number of studies suggest that marriage provides psychological benefits for individuals. However, it is less known if the beneficial effects of marriage on psychological wellbeing vary by motherhood status prior to marriage. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 Cohort, we estimate the effects of marriage moderated by motherhood status on subsequent levels of psychological well-being among a sample of the initially never married women. Our results indicate that entering a first marriage is associated with greater improvements in psychological well-being for single mothers compared to childless women. The results are somewhat inconsistent with previous …

Better To Have It All?: Employment, Motherhood And Women’S Psychological Well-Being, Hyeyoung Woo

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

While there have been dramatic increases in the labor force participation among women with minor children, our understanding about their psychological consequences is limited. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, this study addresses a question of how employment and motherhood are associated with women’s psychological well-being. It also assesses variations in the associations by occupational characteristics and age of children. Results show that the positive effects of employment on women’s psychological well-being are contingent upon family status by providing partial support for the work and family conflict perspective. While the overall association between motherhood and psychological …

Sex Work And Moral Conflict: Enhancing The Quality Of Public Discourse Using Photovoice Method, Crystal Renee Tenty

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis uses an advocacy/participatory framework and moral conflict theory to examine the opposing ideas: and interests of parties involved in the issue of prostitution on 82^nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon. It locates areas of contention within the larger dominant feminist discourse, which views sex work as either a form of violence and exploitation or as a form of legitimate free-contract labor. The thesis shows how the intractable moral conflict between these differing feminist theories and values can be mediated using participatory data collection techniques.

Ethnographic data was collected and analyzed from 11 women working in the sex industry …

The Impact Of Adolescent Neighborhood And School Context On Asian And Latino Young Adults’ Native Language Use With Family, Lindsey Wilkinson

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

While opponents of immigration often claim that the new immigrants are failing to learn English and thus to assimilate, a growing body of research suggests otherwise. In fact, Anglicization, or loss of mother tongue, is occurring at a rapid rate across all groups of new immigrants (Alba et al. 2002; Lopez 1999; Portes and Hao 1998; Veltman 1983) and continues to follow the three generation pattern observed among earlier waves of European immigrants (Fishman 1965). However, there is evidence that this shift is occurring more rapidly for Asian immigrants than for Latinos (Alba et al. 2002; Lopez 1999), due in …

White Bashing? Teaching "Hot-Button" Issues Via Indirection, Jack C. Straton

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The biggest barriers to learning about racism, sexism, and the other oppressions, are the non-rational aversive reactions most of us have to the material and to the learning process. When men truly inquire into the lives of women, we come face to face with a horrible reality that just "cannot be true," but is. When those of us of European heritage inquire into the lives of those whose ancestors came from the other continents, what we find often makes us flinch at its brutality. We feel guilty for what "whites" or men have done, and most of us don't like …