Sociology Commons^™

Nasis 2010: Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey Questionnaire, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

We need your help to learn about how Nebraskans think, feel, and live. Your responses will help shape Nebraska program and policy development now and into the future.

62 questions; 8 pages

Early Literacy Checklist — Classroom .G1992, Janet S. Hanna, Kayla M. Hinrichs, Carla J. Mahar, John Defrain, Tonia Renee Durden

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

StoryQUEST’s Vision: High-quality early relationships and experiences throughout their daily routines provide each infant and toddler with the tools and skills to build a strong foundation for future school readiness. Families, caregivers, and communities as a whole collaborate to enable all children to become highly competent in language and literacy. This series was developed as part of a national research project — StoryQUEST — through the California Institute on Human Services, Sonoma State University.

Follow a checklist of suggested activities and environments to help your child’s literacy development. This is the last publication in a series of nine.

This checklist …

Early Literacy Checklist — In The Home .G1991, Janet S. Hanna, Kayla M. Hinrichs, Carla J. Mahar, John Defrain, Tonia Durden

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

StoryQUEST’s Vision: High-quality early relationships and experiences throughout their daily routines provide each infant and toddler with the tools and skills to build a strong foundation for future school readiness. Families, caregivers, and communities as a whole collaborate to enable all children to become highly competent in language and literacy. This series was developed as part of a national research project — StoryQUEST — through the California Institute on Human Services, Sonoma State University.

Follow a checklist of suggested activities and environments to help your child’s literacy development. This is the eighth publication in a series of nine.

This checklist …

Views On Agriculture, Energy And Food In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bruce B. Johnson, Bradley D. Lubben

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Agriculture has played and continues to play a critical role in Nebraska’s economy. However, the industry is currently facing changes in consumer preferences for food production along with increased demands for renewable energy production and environmental goods and services. Given these changing demands, how closely are rural Nebraskans connected to agriculture? What product attributes are important to them when food shopping? What preferences do they have for government support and incentives for producing energy from various sources? How do they feel about alternative energy sources and energy conservation? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions.

This report details …

Living And Shopping In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bruce B. Johnson, Bradley D. Lubben

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Recent community level Census data show that most small communities in Nebraska have experienced population decline since 2000. However, most larger communities have experienced population growth during this same time period. In addition, small rural communities in Nebraska have experienced a decline in retailing activity in the past few decades. The Internet has also impacted retail shopping behaviors, allowing customers to purchase goods and services online that they normally purchased from businesses in their community. Given these conditions, how do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided by their community? Are they planning to …

Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Perceptions Of Well-Being And Acts Of Care Giving, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bruce B. Johnson

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Given the challenges and uncertainties of recent years, how do rural Nebraskans believe they are doing and how do they view their future? Have these views changed over the past fifteen years? How satisfied are they with various items that influence their well‐being? The aging population in nonmetropolitan Nebraska faces additional challenges to their quality of life and many rely on nearby social support systems to enable them to remain in rural areas. How many rural Nebraskans provide assistance to aging or ill relatives and neighbors? Do they live near their parents or grown children? This paper provides a detailed …

Connection To Nature In Park Visitors: A Look At Structured And Unstructured Recreational Activities, Chelsea D. West

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is evidence that park visitation is on the decline (Pergams & Zaradic, 2008) and if this is the case, and budgets decrease proportionately, there is a chance park land will be lost. Definitive explanations of the decline in park visits and time spent in nature are not available. In addition, there has been some discussion and research pertaining to the possible effects on people of not going into the natural environment and experiencing a connection with nature.

This study represents the first research known to focus on connectedness to nature and its relationship to structured and unstructured recreational activities. …

Variations In Social Support And Mental Health Among Black Women By Socioeconomic Status, Lesa A. Johnson

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A considerable body of research focuses on the mental health of black women with low socioeconomic status. Social scientists have noted that women in low socioeconomic status groups often utilize social networks to provide protection and survival in dense and depressed communities. Still, some social scientists also suggest that the bounded solidarity of kinship networks decreases chances for women to pursue opportunities for economic mobility by creating stressful and time consuming obligations for reciprocity. Though many qualitative and community quantitative studies have been conducted regarding social support and survival among low income women, few quantitative studies have addressed variation in …

Gender And Race Differences In Job Satisfaction And Commitment Among Stem Faculty: The Influence Of Network Integration And Work–Family Balance, Megumi Watanabe

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Using data on 137 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) faculty working at a research intensive Midwestern University, this study explores whether gender and race variation in network (connections to other faculty within one’s primary department) and work-life (family-friendly work climate and satisfaction with work-life balance) integration can explain gender and race variation in job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Results indicate that job satisfaction did not significantly vary by gender or race. Women, however, were less likely to say they intend to remain at their current institution. Compared to men, women had lower levels of integration in the departmental friendship …

Pregnancy Intentions Among Women Who Do Not Try: Focusing On Women Who Are Okay Either Way, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, Karina M. Shreffler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Are women who are intentional about pregnancy (trying to or trying not to get pregnant) systematically different from women who are “okay either way” about getting pregnant?
Methods. We use a currently sexually active subsample (n = 3,771) of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, a random digit dialing telephone survey of reproductive-aged women (ages 25–45) in the United States. We compare women who are trying to, trying not to, or okay either way about getting pregnant on attitudes, social pressures, life course and status characteristics using bivariate analyses (chi-square tests for categorical and ANOVA tests for continuous variables). …

The High-Risk Environment Of Homeless Young Adults: Consequences For Physical And Sexual Victimization, Kimberly A. Tyler, Morgan R. Beal

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Little is known about how the social environment of homeless youth contributes to their risk and how it varies for different types of victimization. As such, the current study examines the constructs of victimization theories in order to investigate the potential risk for physical and sexual victimization among homeless young adults. Results revealed that running at an earlier age, running more often, sleeping on the street, panhandling, deviant peers associations, and not having a family member in one’s network are associated with more physical victimization. Being female, a sexual minority, having an unkempt physical appearance, panhandling, and having friends who …

The Experience Of Infertility: A Review Of Recent Literature, Arthur L. Greil, Kathleen Slauson-Blevins, Julia Mcquillan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

About 10 years ago Greil published a review and critique of the literature on the socio-psychological impact of infertility. He found at the time that most scholars treated infertility as a medical condition with psychological consequences rather than as a socially constructed reality. This article examines research published since the last review. More studies now place infertility within larger social contexts and social scientific frameworks although clinical emphases persist. Methodological problems remain but important improvements are also evident. We identify two vigorous research traditions in the social scientific study of infertility. One tradition uses primarily quantitative techniques to study clinic …

The New Homelessness Revisited, Barrett A. Lee, Kimberly A. Tyler, James D. Wright

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The new homelessness has drawn sustained attention from scholars over the past three decades. Definitional inconsistencies and data limitations rendered early work during this period largely speculative in nature. Thanks to conceptual, theoretical, and methodological progress, however, the research literature now provides a fuller understanding of homelessness. Contributions by sociologists and other social scientists since the mid-1990s differentiate among types of homelessness, provide credible demographic estimates, and show how being homeless affects a person’s life chances and coping strategies. Agreement also exists about the main macro- and micro-level causes of homelessness. Active lines of inquiry examine public, media, and governmental …

The Life Course Perspective And African American Adolescent Development In The Family, Bridget J. Goosby

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

African Americans remain disproportionately represented in the low-income population, and there is a sizable literature addressing the influence of these circumstances on family well-being. There is, however, an increasing need for the integration of the life course perspective into research on economically disadvantaged African American families as they continue to be vulnerable to deleterious mental health outcomes and lower life chances. This article discusses the tenets of the life course perspective followed by a summary of the research on economically disadvantaged African American families and their adolescent youth’s developmental outcomes. In addition, new emerging areas of research are discussed. In …

Assessing Key Informant Methodology In Congregational Research, Philip Schwadel, Kevin D. Dougherty

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Surveying key informants is a common methodology in congregational research. While practical and cost-effective, there are limitations in the ability of a single informant to speak for an entire organization. This paper explores potential limitations empirically. Using the 1993 American Congregational Giving Study, we compare demographic descriptions provided by pastors to demographic information taken from random samples of members in the same congregations. Significant differences in congregational profiles appear along dimensions of gender, age, race/ethnicity and, most notably, education and income. The amount of discrepancy between pastor and member profiles varies by congregational factors such as denominational affiliation and employment …

Jewish Teenagers’ Syncretism, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

With the rapid rise of Jewish interfaith marriage and the migration of Jews away from traditional Jewish neighborhoods, many Jewish teenagers in the U.S. have little interaction with other Jews and little exposure to the Jewish religion. Here I use National Study of Youth and Religion survey data to examine Jewish teenagers’ syncretism or acceptance of different religious forms. The results show that Jewish teens are more syncretic than other teens, and that variations in religious activity, an emphasis on personal religiosity, and living in an interfaith home explain some of the difference in syncretism between Jewish and non-Jewish teens. …

Age, Period, And Cohort Effects On U.S. Religious Service Attendance: The Declining Impact Of Sex, Southern Residence, And Catholic Affiliation, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

I use repeated, cross-sectional data from 1972 to 2006 to analyze age, period, and cohort effects on Americans’ frequency of religious service attendance with cross-classified, random-effects models. The results show that the frequency of religious service attendance is relatively stable, with a modest period-based decline in the 1990s and little overall cohort effect. Although aggregate rates of attendance are stable, there are large changes across cohorts and periods in differences in attendance between men and women, southerners and non-southerners, and Catholics and mainline Protestants. These results serve as a reminder that aggregate trends can mask substantial changes among specific groups, …

Tribal Vs. Public Schools: Perceived Discrimination And School Adjustment Among Indigenous Children From Early To Mid- Adolescence, Devan M. Crawford, Jacob E. Cheadle, Les B. Whitbeck

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to assess the differential effects of perceived discrimination by type of school on positive school adjustment among Indigenous children during late elementary and early middle school years. The analysis utilizes a sample of 654 Indigenous children from four reservations in the Northern Midwest and four Canadian First Nation reserves. Multiple group linear growth modeling within a structural equation framework is employed to investigate the moderating effects of school type on the relationship between discrimination and positive school adjustment. Results show that students in all school types score relatively high on positive school adjustment at …

Thomas Carlyle’S Lost Translation Of Saint-Simon’S Nouveau Christianisme: An Epistolary Account, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The first-known (and now lost) translation of Saint-Simon’s Nouveau christianisme was prepared by the well-known Scotch-born prose writer, Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). Carlyle was considerably interested in the Saint- Simonian movement (Cofer 1931; Murphy 1936; Shine 1941) and undertook to translate Saint-Simon’s last work during the latter half of 1830. The following excerpts from Carlyle’s correspondence reveal that he was unable to find a willing publisher for his translation, and the manuscript subsequently disappeared, presumably in France. This unfortunate chain of events accounts in part for the circumstance that Nouveau christianisme was not better-known among Englishspeaking sociologists and lay readers. Although …

Marital Satisfaction Across The Transition To Parenthood, Kayla M. Sanders

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Many studies have documented the decline in marital satisfaction following the birth of a child. This decline has been attributed to individual factors such as stress, role strain and tension, and an increased division of labor. The current study focuses on couple-level characteristics such as the duration of their relationship, religious frequency, and economic stability indicators. This study utilized the first two waves (1980 and 1983) of the Marital Instability over the Life Course study. Wave I (1980) was analyzed using OLS regression to predict scores of marital satisfaction at baseline. Several interactions were also run using data from Wave …

“All The Men Here Have The Peter Pan Syndrome— They Don’T Want To Grow Up”: Navajo Adolescent Mothers’ Intimate Partner Relationships—A 15-Year Perspective, Rochelle L. Dalla, Alexandria M. Marchetti, Elizabeth (Beth) A. Sechrest, Jennifer L. White

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

In 1992 and 1995, data were collected from 29 Navajo Native American adolescent mothers. In 2007 and 2008, data were collected from 21 of the original 29 (72%). Guided by feminist family theory, this investigation sought to (a) examine Navajo adolescent mothers’ intimate partner relationships during the transition to parenthood, (b) identify themes in the young mothers’ intimate partnerships across time, and (c) assess participants’ psychosocial well-being in adulthood. Four themes emerged in the women’s long-term intimate relationships: limited support, substance abuse, infidelity, and intimate partner violence. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

An Examination Of Questionnaire Evaluation By Expert Reviewers, Kristen Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Expert reviews are frequently used as a questionnaire evaluation method but have received little empirical attention. Questions from two surveys are evaluated by six expert reviewers using a standardized evaluation form. Each of the questions has validation data available from records. Large inconsistencies in ratings across the six experts are found. Despite the lack of reliability, the average expert ratings successfully identify questions that had higher item nonresponse rates and higher levels of inaccurate reporting. This article provides empirical evidence that experts are able to discern questions that manifest data quality problems, even if individual experts vary in what they …

Education In The New Latino Diaspora, Edmund T. Hamann, Linda Harklau

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In 2002 Hamann, Wortham, and Murillo noted that many U.S. states were hosting significant and often rapidly growing Latino populations for the first time and that these changes had multiple implications for formal schooling as well as out-of-school learning processes. They speculated about whether Latinos were encountering the same, often disappointing, educational fates in communities where their presence was unprecedented as in areas with a longstanding Latino presence. Only tentative conclusions could be provided at that time since the dynamics referenced were frequently novel and in flux.

In this chapter we revisit their inquiry in light of six subsequent years …

Jacob Singer (1883-1964): Bio-Bibliography Of A Jewish-Latvian-Nebraskan Sociologist, Michael R. Hill, Natalja Callahan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The professional life of Jacob Singer was deeply entwined with religion and thus exemplifies the sociological life histories of many early sociologists in the United States and elsewhere. Numerous Protestant sociologists, such as Charles A. Ellwood (1988) and the religious men of the early Chicago School, e.g., Albion Small, Charles R. Henderson, George Vincent and Charles Zeublin (Deegan 1988: 71- 104), interpenetrated the boundaries between sociology and religion as did several Catholic sociologists, including, for example, Eva J. Ross (Hill 1999) and the members of the Christus Rex Society in Ireland (Daly 2006). Adding to the religious diversity of this …

Charlotte Perkins Gilman And The Entrepreneurial Turn: A Working Introduction, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, lived from 1860 to 1935 — the same years as did Jane Addams. Gilman was an American, a pioneering sociologist, an influential feminist pragmatist, a peripatetic lecturer, a prolific author, and a friend of Addams. Although Gilman died in 1935, she remains today a provocative sociological presence whose writings continue to make us think, argue, and question our preconceptions. This paper explores the entrepreneurial basis of Gilman’s life as a professional sociologist, including her work as an artist, public speaker, and writer. Gilman promoted the core ideas that (1) humanness trumps sexual difference, (2) social logic is …

The Hidden Infertile: Infertile Women Without Pregnancy Intent In The United States, Arthur L. Greil, Julia Mcquillan, Katherine Johnson, Kathleen Slauson-Blevins, Karina M. Shreffler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

A national probability sample reveals two relatively distinct groups of infertile women: those with intent, who have experienced a period of 12 or more months during which they tried to conceive but did not, and those without intent, who had a period of at least 12 months during which they could have conceived and did not but who do not describe themselves as having tried to become pregnant at that time. Those with intent are more likely to identify as having a fertility problem, to be distressed, and to pursue infertility treatment than those without intent, suggesting that many women …

Splitting The Academy: The Emotions Of Intersectionality At Work, Helen A. Moore, Katherine Acosta, Gary Perry, Crystal Edwards

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Using labor market theory, we assess how we have constructed the teaching of required courses on diversity, with the potential splitting of the academy into distinctive labor markets. In-depth interviews with instructors of color and nonminorities who teach required diversity-education courses at a predominately white university are qualitatively assessed and describe the differences in the emotional labor attached to this segmented academic market.We identify specific dimensions of diversity teaching that attach to the job conditions of secondary labor markets, including the distortion of work loads and evidence of differential barriers in the emotional labor attached. These labor market conditions may …

Bidirectional, Unidirectional, And Nonviolence: A Comparison Of The Predictors Among Partnered Young Adults, Lisa A. Melander, Harmonijoie Noel, Kimberly A. Tyler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In order to understand more fully the context and impact of intimate partner violence (IPV), it is important to make distinctions between different types of relationship aggression. As such, the current study longitudinally examines the differential effects of childhood, adolescent, and demographic factors on three different partner violence groups: those who experience bidirectional IPV, those who experience unidirectional IPV, and those who do not experience either form of IPV. Multinomial logistic regression results reveal that depressive symptoms and lower partner education predict bidirectional when compared to unidirectional IPV and nonviolence. In contrast, other risk factors such as illicit drug use …

Book Review: Out In The Country: Youth, Media, And Queer Visibility In Rural America By Mary Gray, Emily Kazyak

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Gray’s book is a provocative analysis of how rural LGBT youth and their allies organize and create queer identities and networks – in “brick and mortar” structures as well as through engagement with new media. Gray does a wonderful job of providing a balance between detailing rich stories from the ethnographic fieldwork and offering academic analyses. Thus, this a suitable book for undergraduate and graduate level courses in LGBT studies, rural education, media, qualitative methods, and social movements. Additionally, this book will no doubt contribute to a rethinking of what it means to be LGBT in the country and how …

Parental Timing And Depressive Symptoms In Early Adulthood, Christina D. Falci, Jeylan Mortimer, Harmonijoie Noel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Using data from a panel of 459 women, we find that early parents (birth) report higher levels of depressive symptoms in young adulthood (roughly age 29) compared to later parents (first birth in their 20s) or nonparents. Early parenting is also associated with more stressors and fewer resources in young adulthood. As young adults, early parents have lower educational attainment, less secure employment and a weaker sense of personal control; they also experience greater financial strain and more traumatic life events than later and nonparents. By the end of their 20s, early parents are also more likely to be single …