Social Statistics Commons^™

The Design Of An Instrument To Assess Clinical Laboratories Efficacy Post Implementation Of The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, Harry Mcdonald Jr.

Dissertations

The healthcare system in the United States has undergone substantial changes in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). On March 23, 2010, the implementation of the new healthcare law brought universal healthcare access to all Americans, while attempting to increase quality and decrease medical costs. The new law promotes more of a quality-focused, outcome-based model rather than a pay-for-fee service model; thus, moving the paradigm from infrequent to preemptive healthcare. The PPACA postulates as the only way to achieve cost savings while increasing quality and access. Never before has there been such an extensive change to …

Race, Age, And Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status In Low Birth Weight Disparities Among Adolescent Mothers: An Intersectional Inquiry, Sheryl L. Coley, Tracy R. Nichols

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Introduction: Few studies examined socioeconomic contributors to racial disparities in low birth weight outcomes between African-American and Caucasian adolescent mothers. This cross-sectional study examined the intersections of maternal racial status, age, and neighborhood socioeconomic status in explaining these disparities in low birth weight outcomes across a statewide sample of adolescent mothers.

Methods: Using data from the North Carolina State Center of Health Statistics for 2010-2011, birth cases for 16,472 adolescents were geocoded by street address and linked to census-tract information from the 2010 United States Census. Multilevel models with interaction terms were used to identify significant associations between maternal racial …

(Anti)Poverty Measures Exposed, Francine J. Lipman

Scholarly Works

Few economic indicators have more salience and pervasive financial impact on everyday lives in the United States than poverty measures. Nevertheless, policymakers, researchers, advocates, and legislators generally do not understand the details of poverty measure mechanics. These detailed mechanics shape and reshape poverty measures and the too often uninformed responses and remedies. This Article will build a bridge from personal portraits of families living in poverty to the resource allocations that failed them by exposing the specific detailed mechanics underlying the Census Bureau’s official (OPM) and supplemental poverty measures (SPM). Too often, when we confront the problem of poverty, the …

Happiness Index Methodology, Laura Musikanski, Scott Cloutier, Erica Bejarano, Davi Briggs, Julia Colbert, Gracie Strasser, Steven Russell

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

The Happiness Index is a comprehensive survey instrument that assesses happiness, well-being, and aspects of sustainability and resilience. The Happiness Alliance developed the Happiness Index to provide a survey instrument to community organizers, researchers, and others seeking to use a subjective well-being index and data. It is the only instrument of its kind freely available worldwide and translated into over ten languages. This instrument can be used to measure satisfaction with life and the conditions of life. It can also be used to define income inequality, trust in government, sense of community and other aspects of well-being within specific demographics …

Happiness In Communities: How Neighborhoods, Cities And States Use Subjective Well-Being Metrics, Laura Musikanski, Carl Polley, Scott Cloutier, Erica Berejnoi, Julia Colbert

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

This essay, the fourth and last of a series published by the Journal of Social Change, is intended as a tool for community organizers, local policy makers, researchers, students and others to incorporate subjective well-being indicators into their measurements and management of happiness and well-being in their communities, for policy purposes, for research and for other purposes. It provides case studies of community-based efforts in five different regions (São Paulo, Brazil; Bristol, United Kingdom; Melbourne, Australia; Creston, British Columbia, Canada; and Vermont, United States) that either developed their own subjective well-being index or used the Happiness Alliance’s survey instrument …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #7: Economics And Tourism, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

This report examines regional perceptions of economic conditions and tourism from the 2017 Life In Hampton Roads survey (LIHR 2017) conducted by the Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center. Data from prior years is also provided when available to show comparisons in responses over time. Responses were weighted by city population, race, age, gender, and phone usage (cell versus land-line) to be representative of the Hampton Roads region.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-Burriville, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramsawak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-Johnston, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramsawak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-Newport, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramsawak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-North Providence, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramsawak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-Pawtucket, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramsawak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-Providence, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramsawak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-Warwick, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramsawak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-West Warick, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramswak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Data Profiles-Rhode Island-Woonsocket, John C. Brown, Richard A. Ramsawak, James R. Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

We continue support the Federal Bank of Boston “Working Cities” challenge which aims to support social and economic recovery of underperforming small and mid-sized cities in the New England region. We continue to extend our data profiles of these cities located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and now Connecticut. It is our hope that these data ‘rich” profiles which includes key indicators on health, population and demographic changes, industrial growth, and educational performance can not only support policy development in these targeted areas, but also help in monitoring the progress these cities make over time.

Welcome To Dignity, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Relative Impact Of Psychosocial Well-Being And Mental Health On The Relationship Between Economic Circumstance And Religiosity, Veronica Momjian

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Employing Norris and Inglehart’s concept of existential security as a theoretical framework, this dissertation utilizes three data points from the Americans’ Changing Lives study (1986, 1994 and 2011) to interrogate the link between the economic circumstance and religiosity. More specifically, the mediating impact of psychosocial well-being and mental health on religiosity are explored.

This dissertation hypothesizes that individuals employ religious coping strategies to deal with the stress of economic uncertainty; and when that uncertainty subsides, so too does religiosity. The results of this study show that, on average, religiosity increases during times of economic instability, and decreases when the economy …

The Impact Of State-Provided Paid Family Leave On Wages: Examining The Role Of Gender, Aimee Samantha Abrams Widdicombe

Scripps Senior Theses

The U.S. is the only OECD country that does not offer any form of federal paid parental leave. Only three states—California, New Jersey and Rhode Island—have state-provided paid leave policies; implemented in 2004, 2009 and 2014, respectively. Through descriptive statistics and difference-in-difference-in-difference regression analyses of the wages of women and men of childbearing age (19-45 years) in those three states, we assess whether the paid leave programs have effected wages, and whether these effects vary depending on gender. Our results show that wages of women of childbearing age saw negligible net effects post-policy in policy states, although statistically insignificant. On …

American Obesity: Rooted In Uncertainty, Institutions And Public Policy, James Woodward

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Despite the efforts of policymakers, medical professionals, and other stakeholders, obesity and related health problems show no signs of receding from their record-high rates. Public policy has largely taken the form of consumer advice, (e.g., USDA’s Dietary Guidelines). Since consumers bear most of the costs associated with their obesity, the goal of obesity prevention appears to be incentive-compatible, prima facie. That is, there is no a priori case for much further policy intervention unless existing advice is deficient or consumers’ exhibit systematically poor decision-making.

My review of the literature shows that scholars have long conveyed a consistent narrative regarding …

Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness: Measuring What Matters, Laura Musikanski, Carl Polley

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

This essay focuses on ways in which the governments of Bhutan and the United Kingdom are measuring subjective well-being as well as on how other governments including Norway, Spain, China, Canada, and New Zealand, are exploring the development of subjective well-being indicators. It concludes with recommended actions to aid in the formation of a consistent and comparable subjective well-being indicator for use by governments globally. The third in a series for which the purpose is to provide information to grassroots activists to foster the happiness movement for a new economic paradigm, this essay builds on the previous essays, Happiness in …

Review Of Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills In History And The Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Approach By Kathleen W. Craver, Victor J. Ricchezza, H L. Vacher

Numeracy

Kathleen W. Craver. Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills in History and Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Standards Approach (Lantham MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2014). 191 pp.
ISBN 978-1-4758-1050-9 (cloth); ISBN …-1051-6 (pbk); ISBN…-1052-3 (electronic).

This book could be a breakthrough for teachers in the trenches who are interested in or need to know about quantitative literacy (QL). It is a resource providing 85 topical pieces, averaging 1.5 pages, in which a featured Web site is presented, described, and accompanied by 2-4 critical-thinking questions purposefully drawing on data from the Web site. The featured Web sites range from …

An Assessment Of Microlending Programs In The Alabama Black Belt Region, Md Z. Mutaleb, Ntam R. Baharanyi, Nii O. Tackie, Robert Zabawa

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of selected socioeconomic factors on microlending in the Alabama Black Belt. It used logistic regression to identify the link between borrower socioeconomic characteristics and loan repayment rate from existing and previous microloan programs. It was hypothesized that borrower gender, age, level of education, household income, and credit score has a major impact on loan repayment. The results of study indicated that only credit score had a statistically significant effect on loan repayment. This finding underscores the importance of credit score and credit repair management in existing microloan programs, given …

Implementing (Environmental) Justice: Equity And Performance In California's S.B. 535, Meagan Tokunaga

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis evaluates the equity performance of a recent state environmental justice policy, California’s Senate Bill 535 (S.B. 535). “Environmental justice” refers to the disproportionate environmental harm imposed on low-income and minority communities. S.B. 535 uses competitive grants to provide funding to these communities. The research is centered around two questions: (1) to what extent has S.B. 535 experienced successful implementation in its first year of operation, and (2) how can policy actors improve implementation while balancing performance and equity goals? In regards to the first question, I utilize a case study of the policy’s implementation within 17 local governments …

Measuring Happiness To Guide Public Policy Making: A Survey Of Instruments And Policy Initiatives, Laura Musikanski

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

This author examines subjective indicators of well-being as they relate to the happiness movement, a global effort to create a new economic paradigm. The essay focuses on the prominent international institutions that are developing happiness metrics as well as agencies exploring the use of happiness data for crafting supportive public policy. A definition of happiness metrics, based on international institutions, identifies the primary questions that compose perceived happiness and how this data can be used.

Autism Spectrum Disorder In An Indian Context: Impact Of Socioeconomic Factors On The Experiences Of Individuals With Asd And Their Families, Kendall Harman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

While Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition that appears in comparable rates across social, ethnic and geographic groups, the quality and quantity of ASD-related resources and services is significantly lower in developing countries, including India. Moreover, sociocultural factors play a major role in the experiences of people with ASD. Yet, the bulk of ASD-related research has been conducted in developed countries. This study aimed to examine how social, cultural, political and economic factors impact the experiences of people with ASD living in India and their families. Seventeen parents of children with ASD were interviewed, and semi-structured observations of different …

Husbands’ Job Loss And Wives’ Labor Force Participation During Economic Downturns: Are All Recessions The Same?, Kristin Smith, Marybeth J. Mattingly

Sociology

Earlier research showed an added-worker effect for wives when their husbands stopped working during the Great Recession (December 2007–June 2009) but not when husbands stopped working in recent years of prosperity (2004–2005). By including one recession per decade for the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, this article builds upon that research by using Current Population Survey data to compare wives’ labor force responses to their husbands stopping work across three recessions to determine whether wives’ employment responses during the Great Recession differed from those during earlier recessions. Additionally, we hypothesize motivations for wives entering the labor force and consider the occupations …

Using Census Bureau Data For Current And Historical Gis Research, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Provides examples of how geographic information system (GIS) data can be used to conduct historical and contemporary research using Census Bureau data and mapping and other resources. Such data and mapping can enhance understanding of historical and contemporary subjects in a multidisciplinary variety of topics.

Arizona's Vulnerable Populations, Jonathan G.S. Koppell, Warren Prostollo, Jay Kittle, Arlan Colton, Kim Demarchi, Darryl Dobras, Susan Goldsmith, Billie Fidlin, Jim Holoway, Tara Jackson, Rita Maguire, Elizabeth Mcnamee, Patrick Mcwhortor, Ray Newton, Pat Norris, Steve Pedigo, Scott Rhodes, Fred Rosenfed, Chad Sampson, David Snider, Bob Strain, Marissa Theisen, Devan Wastchak, Terri Wogan, Larry Woods, Antonia Adams-Clement, Nina Babich, Andrea Banks, Eric Bjorklund, Luke Black, Luis De La Cruz-Parra, Richard Fabes, Felicia Ganther, Joseph Garcia, Maria Harper-Marinick, Kevin Hengehold, Lane Kenworthy, Julie Knapp, Kelly Mcgowan, Ray Ostos, Kathleen Perales, Suzanne Pfister, Michael S. Shafer, Julia Grace Smith, Ed Strong, Cynthia Zwick

Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell

Arizona’s vulnerable populations are struggling on a daily basis but usually do so in silence, undetected by traditional radar and rankings, often unaware themselves of their high risk for being pushed or pulled into a full crisis. Ineligible for financial assistance under strict eligibility guidelines, they don’t qualify as poor because vulnerable populations are not yet in full crisis. To be clear, this report is not about the “poor,” at least not in the limited sense of the word. It is about our underemployed wage earners, our single-parent households, our deployed or returning military members, our under-educated and unskilled workforce, …

Putting A Human Face On The Minimum Wage, Christopher R. Fee

English Faculty Publications

What is a “livable wage,” and should we strive to raise wages for American workers?

There are lots of conflicting studies and reports. The Congressional Budget Office projects that an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour would eliminate 500,000 jobs while raising the incomes of nearly 17 million Americans.

Even prominent economists like David Card and David Neumark diametrically disagree on the likely consequences of raising the minimum wage, and their studies of results in New Jersey have consistently yielded conflicting results for decades. [excerpt]

Diplomacy & Negotiation, Liefke M. Cox

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Over the course of history when women have been involved in the diplomatic, political, social, and economic structure of a country it has been found they are one of the key ingredients to building an effective and stable democracy. Investing in women strengthens the back bone of any society. Top CEO’s, such as Tupperware’s Rick Goings and Warren Buffett, have also publically supported this assumption. I argue that women in different societies have traits that have been instilled in them culturally which in turn translate directly to their ability to handle diplomatic situations and business negotiations. Societies, however intentionally or …