Sociology Commons^™

Teaching Sexuality On The Catholics & Cultures Website: A Refreshing Turn Toward The Longue Durée, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

I present a close reading of the Catholics & Cultures (C&C) website’s treatment of sexuality-related issues and discuss this material in relation to debates about how to teach sexuality in religious studies and theology classrooms. The C&C website occasionally and intermittently uses a typical “contemporary issues” approach that considers sexuality in relation to legal and legislative decisions and government policies. In contrast, country profiles consistently situate sexuality in relation processes like nation building, urbanization, and lay Catholics’ growing authority. My interpretation highlights the site’s decision to emphasize the longue durée, long-term and deep structural processes driving cultural and religious changes. …

Ritual Among The Scilohtac: Global Catholicism, The Nacirema, And Interfaith Studies, Anita Houck

Journal of Global Catholicism

More than six decades after its publication, Horace Miner’s 1956 article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” remains a reliable pedagogical tool, remarkably successful in helping students see their own ethnocentric biases. Catholics & Cultures has potential to do similar work. The site lacks some of what makes Miner’s text so effective, in particular its capacity to bring about a sudden shift in perception. The site also shares some of the article’s limitations, particularly in focusing on ritual to the relative exclusion of other aspects of religion. That said, the site can help students gain the religious literacy and develop the …

Focus On The Busy Intersections Of Culture And Cultural Change, Laura Elder

Journal of Global Catholicism

The dynamics of religious resurgence reveal the important ways that religious ritual and performance are meaning making spaces which are not self-contained or cut off from the rest of culture, but rather are a key locus of cultural change. A renewed emphasis on the busy intersections of meaning making – as rituals are connected, disconnected, and reconnected to other domains of social life – would improve the utility of the Catholics & Cultures website for understanding global cultural change. And a renewed emphasis on cultural change would also provide a better means for exploring reflexively by seeking to understand both …

A Widened Angle Of View: Teaching Theology And Racial Embodiment, Mara Brecht

Journal of Global Catholicism

Today’s undergraduate students are digital natives, shaped by constant access to information and countless experiences of encountering the world through the convenience of a screen. The ostensible comfort students have with difference gives way to a paradox, and one that’s made especially apparent in the theology classroom: Students are comfortable with seeing difference and particularity at a distance, but not adept at locating difference and particularity “at home.” I contend that Catholics & Cultures can help students from the dominant culture—namely, white students who comprise the vast majority of Catholic college students—destabilize their notion of the Catholic tradition as tightly …

Introducing Catholics & Cultures: Ethnography, Encyclopedia, Cyborg, Mathew N. Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

In introducing the Catholics & Cultures site and the articles in this special issue, this essay initially locates the overall Catholic & Cultures project within the traditions of ethnography and encyclopedia. Drawing extensively on the work of J. Z. Smith, this essay reflects upon the theoretical implications of emphasizing the diversity of Catholicism in and through a web-based platform that facilitates comparative study and pedagogy. This essay then more specifically considers the web-based aspects of Catholics & Cultures by identifying a nascent cyborgian aesthetic in the site and considering how the site might eventually engage post-modern themes and concerns.

Assistive And Interactive Technology Use, Comfort, And Interest In Caregiver And Older Adult Populations, Sarah Hubner, Akankshya Chataut, Marcia Shade, Ann Fruhling, Natalie Manley, Meaghan Walls, Julie Blaskewicz Boron

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Remaining community-dwelling is a goal for most aging adults; however, this may necessitate assistance from caregivers. To reduce burden and improve adult autonomy, recent technological advancements have provided various supports. These advancements may improve quality of life (QOL) while also enhancing psychological/physical well-being for adults and caregivers. To investigate relationships between technology, QOL, and caregiver burden, needs assessments with focus groups were utilized. Four older adult and two caregiver focus groups were conducted. Within older adult groups, participants were aged 64-83 years (M=73.1,SD=5.3); the sample was 50% female and 90% white. For caregiver groups, participants were aged 31-73 years (M=57.8,SD=13.2); …

English As A Foreign Language Teachers’ Motivation: An Activity Theory Perspective, Teymour Rahmati, Karim Sadeghi

The Qualitative Report

Drawing upon Activity Theory, this mixed-methods study explored L2 teachers’ (de)motivation factors, motivation change, and voice in adopting strategies that could motivate L2 teachers. Semi-structured interviews, a motivational timeline diagram, and a researcher-developed scale were used to collect data from 226 in-service L2 teachers. The interview data collected from 15 participants were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA Analytics Pro version 12.3. Individual participants’ motivational timelines were also carried over into a collective diagram to illustrate motivational trajectories. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data collected from 211 teachers. The findings identified a number of …

Becoming Holistic Teachers And Learners: A Review Of Teaching Qualitative Research: Strategies For Engaging Emerging Scholars, Viviane Klen-Alves

The Qualitative Report

In this review I offer an alternative perspective on the book Teaching Qualitative Research: Strategies for Engaging Emerging Scholars by emphasizing how the authors propose a holistic approach to learning qualitative research. Departing from the point of view of an emerging scholar, this piece was written as I was transitioning from a doctoral program to the professional world, learning with the authors what it is to teach qualitative research methods while being socialized as a scholar in the doing of qualitative research.

Examining The Impact Of Socioeconomic Variables On Covid-19 Death Rates At The State Level, James L. Doti

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This study uses a step-wise regression model to identify the socioeconomic variables most significant in explaining COVID-19 death rates on a state-level basis. The regression tests cover the 1/1/2020 to 12/1/2020 period as well as the first and second halves of 2020. This study also uses the Oxford stringency index to measure more precisely the efficacy of governmental mandates at the state level. The results in this study rigorously showed that while the density variables were the most significant explanatory variables during the first half of the year, their significance fell during the second half. Use of the Oxford stringency …

Designed Generalization From Qualitative Research, Ian H. Falk, John Guenther

The Qualitative Report

In our earlier work on generalizing from qualitative research (GQR) we identified our two-decade struggle to have qualitative research outcomes formally “listened to” by policy personnel and bureaucratic systems in general, with mixed success. The policy sector often seems reluctant to acknowledge that qualitative research findings can be generalized, so impacts tend to be informal or simply ignored. The “official” methodological literature on generalizing from qualitative research is epitomized by Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) still oft quoted, “The only generalization is: there is no generalization” (p. 110). We now understand there are many alternative possibilities for generalizing. In this paper …

Proximity To Power: The Challenges And Strategies Of Interviewing Elites In Higher Education Research, Kevin Mcclure, Jon L. Mcnaughtan

The Qualitative Report

Presidents, provosts, deans, and other upper-level administrators in higher education fit common definitions of “elites” in the context of qualitative research. Scholarship on methods specific to the field of higher education has not identified or described the unique challenges of interviewing these and other elites. The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges and share strategies for elite interviewing, with specific application to qualitative research in the field of higher education. We provide three examples of empirical studies involving elite interviewing and, using literature from other fields, highlight challenges and strategies. By anticipating challenges and implementing these strategies, researchers …

Emotional Overload! A Dialogic Autoethnography Of Scholar-Participant-Consumer Reactions To The Marketing Of Thanatourism, Elizabeth Lloyd-Parkes, Jonathan H. Deacon, Alec J. Grant Phd, Simon Thomas

The Qualitative Report

The terms “thanatourism” and “dark tourism” relate to visiting places of human tragedy, which are increasingly developed as tourist destinations. There is a need to trouble thanatouristic assumptions through sharing and discussing lived experiences. These challenge the simplistic mechanistic marketing and conventional research practices of thanatourism. This dialogic autoethnographic study responds to this need, addressing thanatourism from the subjective and emotional perspectives of “insider” scholar-participant-consumers. Two interactive dialogic stories are presented by the lead and second authors, with the fourth providing a theoretically informed response. In the final section, the third author, an experienced autoethnographer and outsider to the thanatouristic …

Research Recruitment: A Case Study On Women With Substance Use Disorder, Kristy J. Cook Phd, Rn, Ibclc, Kim L. Larson Phd, Mph, Rn, Fnap

The Qualitative Report

Women with substance use disorder may evade research participation because of individual and societal factors. Limited information exists on recruitment of women with substance use disorder. The purpose of this study was to delineate recruitment challenges among women with substance use disorder and identify successful recruitment strategies. An exploratory case study was used to examine recruitment of women with substance use disorder. This case study was informed by a pilot study in 2017-2018, where data were generated from 25 direct observations and three key informants from a drug rehabilitation treatment agency. Analysis took an explanation-building approach, which incorporated chronological field …

Do Black Girls Receive Later Developmental Disability Diagnoses?: Results From A National Study Of Children In The United States, Danequa Forrest

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

This study sought to analyze if age at diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and developmental delay varies by race and sex for children between ages 6 and 17 years old. I used data from the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services (“Pathways”), a follow-up survey to the 2009/10 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN). With this nationally representative dataset, I was able to perform ordinary least squares linear regression in Stata 13. Results determined that Black girls were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder about two years later than White girls, nearly …

Someone Else’S Child: A Co-Constructed, Performance Autoethnography Of Adoption From Three Perspectives, Robin L. Danzak, Christina Gunther, Michelle Cole

The Qualitative Report

Through a framework of reconciling the other, this collaborative autoethnographic performance co-constructs the adoption experience from three perspectives in three different families: a mother struggling with the ethical and emotional implications of the transnational adoption of her daughter; an adult reflecting on her childhood as an adoptee feeling loved, but different; and a woman who met her biological sister at age 28 after her parents revealed a lifelong secret. To develop individual adoption narratives, we applied autoethnographic tools of interactive interviews with family members, reflective writing, and document review (Ellis, 2004) of photos, letters, emails, and calendars. During one school …

A Qualitative Description Investigation Of U.S. Higher Education Quantitative Datasets, Mia Ocean, Karon T. Hicks

The Qualitative Report

Currently, the U.S. system of higher education is almost exclusively evaluated by quantitative data based on traditional student trajectories and university structured programs. This could be problematic for community colleges and post-traditional students, who are a growing population at all institutions. Therefore, we conducted a pilot, qualitative description analysis of three U.S. quantitative national datasets to assess their accuracy and identify factors that influence classifications. We interviewed individuals (n=13) who would qualitatively be considered success stories, specifically individuals who attended community colleges during their undergraduate studies and ultimately high ranking graduate programs, to gather information about their educational timelines. In …

Exploring Authentic Leadership Through Leadership Journey Of Gandhi, Beena Prakash Nair Ms., Prasad T Dr., Shreekumar K. Nair Dr.

The Qualitative Report

Leadership research will benefit from bringing in the subjective realities of becoming a leader by considering the leadership journey. Generating an understanding of how leaders turn episodes in time into meaningful subjective narratives helps shed light on the meaning-making process. We seek in this inquiry to understand self-awareness with a narrative meaning-making process. In this study, we adopt a narrative research approach for analyzing the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, who is widely acknowledged as an authentic leader. The study explores individual experiences of becoming a leader and factors leading to the manifestation of authentic leadership behaviour as well as followers’ …

Inequalities In Private Tutoring Of English: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study Based On Bangladeshi Higher Secondary Students, Monjurul M. Islam 8965323, Dr. Shams Hoque, Kazi Enamul Hoque

The Qualitative Report

This phenomenological qualitative study analyzes the lived experiences of eleven Bangladeshi higher secondary students in mainstream schools to provide insight into their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values, and assumptions of private tutoring in English (PT-E). The study also focused on PT-E that contribute to inequalities between students who have access to private tutoring and those who do not. Each participant participated in a one-to-one in-depth semi-structured interview. Using phenomenological analysis, 321 significant statements and three themes emerged. The data show that unequal practice, discrimination due to financial capability, and social psyche for PT-E that influences students to widen the negative impacts …

The Use Of Online Data Sources In A Qualitative Analysis Learning Project, Sunny R. Winstead, Christopher J. Alterio

The Qualitative Report

Our purpose in writing this article is to describe the use of online data sources (such as blogs and microblogs) in a qualitative analysis learning project for graduate occupational therapy students. The project was designed to meet the following learning objectives: (1) increase students’ understanding and appreciation for qualitative research principles and methods, (2) increase students’ ability to use thematic and narrative analysis procedures with authentic data sets, and (3) increase students’ ability to apply qualitative findings to occupational therapy practice. This article describes the project’s theoretical rationale, components, objectives, implementation, and informal outcomes, along with a discussion of strengths …

Social Representations Of Bogota - Colombia Inhabitants Regarding A Conditional Cash Transfer Policy, Juan S. Hernández, Wilson G. Jiménez-Barbosa, Johanna S. Acuña

The Qualitative Report

The current article shows the development of a research process whose main objective was to explain the influence of the social representations of the inhabitants of Bogotá, Colombia in the implementation of the public policy of conditional cash transfers “Más Familias en Acción.” For this aim, a qualitative study of hermeneutic design was conducted with beneficiaries of the program and non-beneficiaries, in which, through the application of semi-structured interviews, the most frequent social representations about subsidies, policies, work, education, health, among other relevant issues related to this public policy were identified and once the information was coded by using the …

These Are My People: An Ethnography Of Quiltcon, Kristin Barrus

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis presents the first ethnography of QuiltCon, the annual fan and artist convention for quiltmakers who identify with and participate in a social phenomenon called the Modern Quilt Movement (MQM) within the 21st century quilt world. QuiltCon (QC) is one product of this movement. This study considers the following questions: What kinds of people attend QC, and what types of experiences and encounters do they expect at the convention? What needs are met at QC for this subset of quiltmakers who attend and for the greater community of Modern quiltmakers? What role does QC play in cementing the identity …

How Institutional Context Shapes The Accounts Of School Choice And Boundary-Making Among Middle Class Parents In An Urban School District, Paul Knudson

The Qualitative Report

This paper explores how urban middle-class parents with children at the elementary school level construct accounts about school choice in comparison to parents with children at the middle and high school levels. Previous studies have largely focused on the former. Data for this study come from in-depth interviews with 44 parents who enrolled their children in an urban school district. Findings suggest that parents’ choices and narratives concerning schools are affected by the school district’s institutional context. Parents with children at the elementary school level largely avoided their neighborhood-designated schools and secured spots in the city’s more desirable magnet schools. …

Big Data: Ethics, Resources, And Potential Collaboration, Matthew Zook

Geography Presentations

This presentation goes over 10 simple rules for responsible big data research.

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Token Resistance To Sex Amongst Nigerian Undergraduates, Alex Terver Igundunasse Dr, Nathan Odiase Mr

The Qualitative Report

It is apparent that existing social conventions unofficially mandates women to refuse sexual advances even when there may be the intention to engage. The adherence to this social script is what is referred to as token resistance or scripted refusal. Some studies have explored the subject of token resistance from a number of perspectives that attempt to identify the underlying reasons why women engaging in token resistance. However, there is very little research on this subject from the Nigerian perspective. This this study sought to explore token resistance further in order to understand the cultural cogency or peculiarity of the …

Factors Affecting Successful Quality Assurance Implementation In Vietnamese Higher Education: A Qualitative Study, Loc Thi My Nguyen, Trung Tran, Thuan Van Pham, Tien-Trung Nguyen, Hien Thi Thu Le, Thao Thi Phuong Trinh, Thanh Thi Nghiem

The Qualitative Report

Quality assurance and accreditation was officially introduced into the higher education system in Vietnam over ten years ago. It is evident that quality assurance has resulted in positive impacts on university management, teaching, learning and research activities. This paper aims to explore factors that aid the successful implementation of higher education quality assurance and accreditation in Vietnam. Through semi-structured interviews with 32 participants, this study identified a number of factors that contributed to quality assurance processes, including awareness of the importance of quality assurance, better institutional manager leadership, support of university lecturers, staff, and students, and the vital responsibility of …

Washback Of An English Language Assessment System In A Malaysian University Foundation Programme, Umed Bokiev, Arshad Abd. Samad

The Qualitative Report

Washback refers to the influence of language assessment on teaching and learning. In contrast to the wealth of studies involving external large-scale language examinations, scant research has been conducted to explore the influence of internal language assessment on instruction, particularly in the context of a university foundation programme. This qualitative study investigated the washback effects of an English language assessment system (ELAS) on the teaching and learning of English in a Malaysian university foundation programme. Apart from an in-depth analysis of official documents on the ELAS, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with three curriculum and assessment developers, three English language …

The Lived Experience Of Syrian Refugees In Canada: A Phenomenological Study, Khaldoun Aldiabat, Enam Alsrayheen, Catherine Aquino-Russell, Michael Clinton, Roger Russell

The Qualitative Report

Health care providers in Canada are expected to take care of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, and it is difficult for health care providers to deeply understand the lived experiences of some individuals to provide them with culturally sensitive care. Syrian refugees comprise one such group of newcomers to Canada. This phenomenological study aimed to uncover the meaning of the lived experiences of Syrian refugees using Giorgi’s (2009) method. Seven participants’ descriptions were viewed through the lens of the social determinants of health model. Seven essences of the general structural description or the meaning Syrian refugees gave to …

From “Robot” To “Rejuvenating Warrior”: An Efl Learner’S Conceptual Metaphors During School Transition, Özgehan Uştuk

The Qualitative Report

Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory, I investigated the school transition experience of an English as a foreign language (EFL) learner. In this narrative case study, the participant’s emotion labor was followed throughout his first semester at a high school in Turkey. Exploring narrative journals, conceptual metaphors, and interviews, I examined his dynamic emotional states. The findings revealed that school transition may entail inhibiting emotion labor for high school freshman EFL learners. Moreover, it was also shown that these emotions may force adolescent learners to reconceptualize foreign language learning with a negative perspective and develop surviving learner’s strategies that may support …

Survey Versus Interviews: Comparing Data Collection Tools For Exploratory Research, Neha Jain

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of the paper is to offer a comparison between survey and face to face interviews as tools for data collection in qualitative exploratory research. This study aims at encouraging new researchers to experiment with different data collection tools and then select the one that fits best to the research. Memos documented during data collection served as the basis for analysis. The memos were analyzed using a systematic three-step coding process to identify the challenges and benefits of using each of the two data collection tools. Using content analysis of the memos and field notes that were documented during …

Sorting Out Concern: European Attitudes Toward Human Trafficking, Jennifer A. Cheek, Lindsey Peterson

Societies Without Borders

Human trafficking is a global phenomenon, which is sometimes conflated with other cross-national social problems. While trafficking certainly occurs within countries, much of it occurs across borders. In this paper we examine one of the only available datasets that addresses individual concern about human trafficking: the Eurobarometer 2003. Individual concern about human trafficking matters, especially in democracies, because government policy is in part shaped by citizen preferences. When democratic governments are not responsive to citizens, they risk being voted out in the next election cycle. What we find is that concern for human trafficking varies by gender, age, marital status, …