Sociology Commons^™

The Impact Of Religiosity On Coping Among Lds Adolescents, Matthew P. Roper

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact of religiosity on coping in a group of Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) youth. Longitudinal data were gathered from detailed questionnaires administered to 2852 male and female adolescents in 1990 and 1993. Coping was conceptualized as four general dimensions (self-concept, public activities and service, deviance and future plans). Religiosity was also conceptualized multi-dimensionally (religious belief, public religiosity, private religious behavior, and religious experiences). Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the unique effects of each of the dimensions of religiosity on each dimension of coping. It was hypothesized that religiosity was positively …

Religious Couples' Reported Effects Of Prayer In Conflict Situations, Julie Ann Stout

Theses and Dissertations

For religious couples, the spiritual domain stands alongside the biological, psychological, and systemic domains as an influence upon interaction and mechanism for change. This study is a quantitative expansion of Butler, Gardner, and Bird's (1998) qualitative study, of the change dynamics of prayer. This study attempted to improve the generalizability of the Butler et al. (1998) study through its use of a larger, and religiously and geographically more diverse sample. This study investigated the effects of prayer during times of marital conflict through a quantitative methodology with a survey design. The researchers developed a survey based on the findings of …

Le Play, Warner, And The Sociology Of Fieldwork, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Several American sociologists have earlier noted, albeit briefly, Frédéric Le Play’s contributions to sociology, for example: Amos Warner (1886), George E. Howard (1904, III: 378), Elsie Clews Parsons (1906: 305, 337), Robert Park and Ernest Burgess (1921: 215), Emory S. Bogardus (1928: 615-16), Charles H. Cooley (Cooley, Angell and Carr 1933: 479), Floyd House (1936), and Lewis Mumford (1948: 678, 683). To this list, Luigi Tomasi (below) adds the names of Merle Frampton, Walter Goldfrank, Robert Nisbet, Catherine Silver, Albion Small, Pitirim Sorokin, and Carle Zimmerman. E.R.A. Seligman and Alvin Johnson included a short biography of Le Play in their …

Bio-Bibliography: Eva J. Ross – Catholic Sociologist, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The major accomplishments of Eva Jeany Ross’ productive but largely unknown sociological career present opportunities for sociobiographers to examine several contending institutional forces on the professional lives of academic sociologists. Ross’ career unfolded at the intersection of five major institutional arenas: religion, education, the nation-state, family, and patriarchy. Each made a profound impact on the shape of Ross’ sociological work.

Edward Alsworth Ross, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Edward Alsworth Ross (Dec. 12, 1866 - July 22, 1951), sociologist and writer, was born in Virden, Illinois, the son of William Carpenter Ross, a farmer, and Rachel Alsworth, a school teacher. Orphaned by his mother’s and father’s deaths (1874 and 1876, respectively), Ross was sheltered in turn by three Iowa farm families. Of the latter, Ross regarded Mary Beach as his foster mother. Alexander Campbell, Ross’ lawyer guardian, shepherded his inheritance, thereby providing ample funds for his schooling.

Despite Increases, Women And Minorities Still Underrepresented In Undergraduate And Graduate S&E Education, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Participation of women and minorities1 in science and engineering (S&E) higher education continues to rise, but this involvement is not yet equivalent to their representation in the U.S. population of 18- to 30-year-olds. In 1995, women were 50 percent of U.S. residents between the ages of 18 and 30; blacks were 14 percent; Hispanics, 13 percent; and American Indians, 0.8 percent. 2 However, in the same year, 46 percent of S&E bachelor’s degrees were earned by women, 7 percent by blacks, 6 percent by Hispanics, and 0.6 percent to American Indians. The proportions of S&E doctorates earned by these groups …

Multiple Perspectives On Multimedia In The Large Lecture, Helen A. Moore, Timothy D. Pippert

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Students, graduate instructors and the classroom professor responded in journals, on objective tests, in focus groups and on survey questionnaires to the effects of computer media in four large lecture classes. Graduate instructors and students responded in focus groups to multimedia technology with consistent themes, including enhancement of cognitive strategies (note taking and organization of ideas) and motivation. However, students also expressed distancing from the instructor. Student achievement outcomes using pre- and post-test scores showed no differences across two experimental applications of multimedia presentations: static and dynamic. Discussion of findings emphasizes the need to balance considerations of resource scarcity and …

Rural Images, Tourism And Sustainability: Perceptions Of Rural Accommodation Operators And Their Visitors In Waterloo-Wellington Region, Ontario, Kelley Anne Mcclinchey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was to investigate rural images and perceptions of rural accommodation operators and their visitors, and to explore the contribution of tourism to sustainability in the Waterloo-Wellington region. The objectives were; to investigate and compare images, as perceived by rural hosts and visitors, and as projected through accommodation brochures; to compare perceived and projected images with ideal rural images; and to explore the role of rural tourism in sustaining rural cultures and contributing to sustainable rural development. Images and perceptions of rural accommodation operators were obtained via personal interviews and visitors’ perceptions were gathered through the …

Impact Of Gender And Culture: Contributing Factors To Satisfactory Long-Term Marriages, Maria Yip Ling Cheung

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The constructs of gender and culture have been neglected in our understanding of marital relationships. With the recent upsurge of postmodernism, the two constructs have come into focus as essential to furthering our understanding of these relationships. My doctoral dissertation research is a cross-cultural comparative study of five Hong Kong Chinese immigrant couples in Canada and five Euro Canadian couples who were born in Canada I used a social construction perspective to examine the gender and cultural processes that evolve in the long-term satisfactorily married couples. Couples who have been married for thirty to thirty-six years were under study.

I …

Quilts As Social Text, Helen Kathryn Ball

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The acts of writing and reading are exquisitely intertwined at a level that is deeper than the mere writing of a report. These acts are social. Given that our intent is to study social phenomena and re-present them in a text, how can we accomplish this task in a way that does not perpetuate the social scientific discursive tradition that privileges the positionless, invisible, disengaged account? Using a feminist-postmodernist approach to qualitative research, this paper explores the crisis of representation in social science writing. The discursive practices of social scientific knowledge production are explored through the creation of quilts as …

The Social Construction Of A Nonabuser Image: A Study Of A Post-Treatment Male Abuser Self-Help Group, Bruce Alan Bidgood

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper chronicles the experiences of the members of a post-treatment mutual support group for wife abusers (MS group). A review of the accumulated research on male abuser interventions suggests that this field is dominated by positivist program evaluative efforts. There is a paucity of qualitative research initiatives into the experiences of this population. The paper attempts to contribute to the very small but growing body of qualitative research on male abusers through the description of a grounded theory-naturalistic inquiry investigation into the individual and organizational strategies used by the members to construct an image of themselves as non-abusers. The …

A Healing Story: A Family Systems View Of The Intertwining Of Family Stories With The Biblical Narrative, John Frederick Nunns

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

God's covenant with Abraham embodied a promise of a great family beginning with a son being born to Sarah in her old age. Abraham is considered a man of great faith. What drove Abraham's faith? Was it an altruistic desire to serve God or was it a strong desire to have a family or an intertwining of both‘? This thesis proposes to examine how emotional family process shapes our faith and how faith development shapes our ‘families’. Every family has a story to tell. ln the introduction I share my family story. The focus of chapter one is how God's …

Context And Culpability In Adolescent Crime, Jeffrey A. Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay merges the perspectives of context and decision-making to assess the role of contextual factors in the unfolding of violent events by adolescents. The framework for decision-making assumes that context is a dynamic rather than a static feature of the cognitive landscape. Decisions by adolescents to engage in crime or violence are shaped through interactions with features of their environments, are contingent on responses emanating from that context, and are filtered through the unique lens of adolescence. Rather than assuming discrete and independent components in a decision framework, this Essay assumes that decisions are the product of interactions across …

Punishment Or Treatment For Adolescent Offenders: Therapeutic Integrity And The Paradoxical Effects Of Punishment, Jeffrey A. Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

Throughout much of its history, the American juvenile court maintained a goal of rehabilitation of the individual, and placed custody and punishment as secondary or ancillary goals in the pursuit of "remaking the child's character and lifestyle." To its founders, the development of a separate juvenile court reflected a fundamental distinction between sanctions based on characteristics of the offender, and punishment based on the offense. Juvenile court dispositions were designed to determine why the child was in court, and what could be done to avoid future appearances. Judge Julian Mack's classic statement of the original theory of the juvenile court …

A Danish Soldiers' Song In America, Finn V. Nerland

The Bridge

In the revolutionary year of 1848, governments throughout Europe were being overthrown by popular risings demanding liberty and representationD. enmarkf aced a doublec risis. In Copenhagen,m ass meetings calledfo r an end to absolutisma nd a written constitution coveringb oth Denmark and Schleswig, the half-Danish, half-German duchy on the southern border.I n Schleswigi tself and neighboringH olstein,b oth ruled by Denmark since the middle ages, the German element demanded self-government and closert ies to Germany. By April of 1848, these irreconcilabled emands led to war, and Prussian troops crossed the border to aid the SchleswigHolsteiners. The war pitched Denmark, with …

A Norwegian In The Pew Of Budolfi Cathedral In Aalborg: The Annunciation Of The Virgin Mary, 1996, Oyvind T. Gulliksen

The Bridge

As an alien soul from the Norwegian church, I sought refuge in Aalborg cathedral on the Fifth Sunday in Lent, the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary ("Marire bebudelses

Juvenile Justice Professionals And The Goal Of Rehabilitation, Heather Bruch

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Numerous studies conducted over the past 20 years have suggested that support for rehabilitation in the criminal justice system has decreased. As a result of these findings, an increase in the examination of support for rehabilitation has occurred. According to much of the research on this issue, an important factor in the support of rehabilitation is the attitudes of criminal justice workers. The increasing prison populations are partially responsible for the heightened interest in this issue. It is believed by many that the attitudes of the workers in the criminal justice system have an effect on the success of the …

Correlates Of Minority Transfer Students Academic Performance And Retention At A Four Year Public Institution, Pedro Zayas

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Emotional Dysregulation In Children With Aids-Diagnosed Mothers: A Comparative Study, Kathleen O'Brien-Sheber

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Culture As Commodity: The Home As Spectacle In Popular Culture, Jillian E. Benn

Theses : Honours

This study proposes to examine representations of the home in the media. The media play a significant role in the culture of Australians, who are obsessed with the suburban home and its cultural and social meanings. The place of the home within popular thought and culture and the subsequent ideologies and meanings associated with the home are questioned in this dissertation. The major theme to emerge is that the contemporary suburban home is a spectacle. This project interprets, evaluates and contributes to current theories and debates surrounding the concept of suburbia. It is an original contribution to the perception of …

Age Discrimination In Hiring Practices Against Older Adults In Western Australia : The Case Of Accounting Assistants, Eyal Gringart

Theses : Honours

The percentage of older adults in the Australian population is predicted to increase from about 18 at the end of this century to about 33 per cent by the year 2050. One anticipated consequence of this significant ageing of the population is that increasing numbers of older adults may be required in the workforce. Still, age discrimination in hiring places older adults at a disadvantage. Local measures of actual discrimination are needed in order to formulate appropriate policies and interventions to combat such negative attitudes. Evidence suggest that, contrary to employers perceptions, older adults are willing and able to work …

Dancing With Difference, Michael J. Lenney

Theses : Honours

This is a symbolic interactionist study into behaviours surrounding social interaction. The study has two components, asking how people with able-bodies interact with a young person with a disability, and how does the young person, who is non-verbal, respond to and interpret such interactions? Participants were observed and recorded using a digital camera whilst interacting at a social venue. The able-bodied participants were not aware of the camera at the time of filming, and were approached after the filming to participate in the study. Seven participants were later interviewed and asked to explain what they were aware of as they …

Bicultural Involvement And Psychological Well-Being In Second Generation Chinese Migrants In Australia, Denise A. Kensit

Theses : Honours

The present study, a replication of Szapocnik, Kurtines and Fernandez's (1980) study, measured the relationship between bicultural involvement and psychological wellbeing for second generation (i.e. born in Australia) Chinese migrants in Perth, Western Australia. Ninety volunteers participated in the study. They were all Australian citizens, over l 8 years of age, and spoke English. Two studies were conducted. Firstly, four volunteers participated in semi-structured interviews to provide a context to data yielded from the quantitative study. Secondly, eighty-six second generation migrants (i.e. born in Australia) completed a questionnaire that included the Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire (B1Q) and the General Health Questionnaire, …

Neighbourhood Cohesion And Sense Of Community In A Local Church Context, Colin Cowie

Theses : Honours

The nature and implications for growth of sense of community (SOC) in a local church setting were explored. In study one, the Neighbourhood Cohesion Index (NCI) and Sense of Community Index (SCI) were completed by 108 Sorrento Anglican Church members. Principal components and reliability analyses indicated that the church-referenced SCI was an appropriate assessment tool. Three factors labelled values, influence and neighbourhood concern emerged in a SCI principal components analysis. A hierarchical multiple regression indicated that talking to neighbours about religion and the SCI values subscale predicted 22% of the variance in the NCI. The prediction that the church-referenced SCI …

The Perception Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Values : Is Value Incongruence Related To Social Distance?, Lauren Jennifer Breen

Theses : Honours

This review examines prejudicial actions directed towards outgroups as a function of personal values and the perception of the values held by other groups. Prejudice is a result of social and cognitive categorisation. Although it is well learned, prejudice is not inevitable, if individuals attend to and control their prejudicial thoughts. Pleasurable interaction, cooperation, equal status, and making humanitarian values conspicuous serve to reduce intergroup conflict. It was proposed that values motivate approach and avoidance behaviours directed at outgroups, and both belief congruence theory and expectance-value theory arc relevant in explaining such behaviour.

An Assessment Of The Project Challenge Pilot Program Evaluation, Judy Lynn Scripter

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

There are ongoing discussions in the field of social research concerning the utility of Program Evaluation (Browne and Wildavsky, 1983; Posavac and Carey, 1989; Deshler and Ewert, 1995). Program managers need relevant information to make policy decisions, improve processes, or validate their existence. Program evaluation activities need to be assessed for the same reasons social researchers evaluate programs, i.e., accountability, selecting best practices, program improvement, etc.... Posavac and Carey (1989:3) state “The mission of program evaluation... is to assist in improving the quality of human services.” The purpose of this project was to assess the evaluation of Project Challenge Pilot …

The Media's Influence On Women's Labor Force Participation: A Content Analysis Of Magazines, Cassandra S. Crawford

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The media can be understood not as a mechanism which dictates cultural specifics, but rather, as forum for cultural mimicry. The Symbolic Interactionist perspective suggests that the media has a degree of influence similar to that of other actors, because readers are imputed in the production of meaning. Interactions are dynamic and, as a consequence, a multiplicity of meanings are inevitable. Women’s occupational imaging in advertisements can be utilized to illustrate this assertion. Year intervals in which labor force participation rates increased 1.5% or greater were extracted from labor force data. In order to ascertain what influence the media has …

The Shadow Children, Patricia A. Menzies

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Fifty years ago, to be a good foster parent, all one needed was a lot of love and patience. As we approach the 21st century, foster parenting has become a complex career choice wherein the foster parent needs to have a multi-faceted background in order to adequately deal with children who have been traumatized by those who should have been protecting them. Oftentimes suffering severe psychological damage, these children can present an overwhelming challenge to particularly the novice foster parent, but also to the veteran foster parent who is finding that, with each year, the children are arriving with more …

Exploration Of Namibian Adolescents’ Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes And Behavior, Shamani-Jeffrey Shikwambi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sexual knowledge, sexual attitude, and sexual behavior among Namibian adolescents.

Data were collected by using a ~edified version of the Prevention Minimum Evaluation Data Set (PMEDS) instrument. The participants were 45 twelfth graders, of which 23 were females and 22 males.

Analysis of the data included an examination of intercorrelation between sexual knowledge, sexual attitude, and sexual behavior, and an investigation of gender differences among these three variables. Pearson correlations were calculated for each variable and t-tests were run to look for the gender difference. Multiple regression was also …

“I Only Want To Be”: Black Women Experiences As Depicted In Nikki Giovanni’S Poetry, Lawanda Brown

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Traditional sociology is negligent in the case of recognizing Black women as carriers and standards of knowledge. Sociology is dominated by egotistic white male theories of individuals and groups that exclude and invalidate the existence of Blacks in the United States, especially Black women. Furthermore, no matter how hard we try to free our work and our selves from these Eurocentric Theories, even Black women sociologists such as myself are bound by them. In spite of the limitations imposed by Eurocentric Theories, I show that Black women are carriers of knowledge by presenting an understanding of their lives during a …