Sociology Commons^™

Understanding Reliability And Validity In Qualitative Research, Nahid Golafshani

The Qualitative Report

The use of reliability and validity are common in quantitative research and now it is reconsidered in the qualitative research paradigm. Since reliability and validity are rooted in positivist perspective then they should be redefined for their use in a naturalistic approach. Like reliability and validity as used in quantitative research are providing springboard to examine what these two terms mean in the qualitative research paradigm, triangulation as used in quantitative research to test the reliability and validity can also illuminate some ways to test or maximize the validity and reliability of a qualitative study. Therefore, reliability, validity and triangulation, …

Joint Stories And Layered Tales: Support, Contradiction And Me Aning Construction In Focus Group Research, Agnieszka Kosny

The Qualitative Report

This paper uses focus group data about women’s work experiences gathered in five Canadian east coast communities to examine some of the strengths and weakness associated with focus group research. I explore the case made against the use of focus group methods and the basis for some of the critiques aimed at focus group research. By examining the evolving discussions between focus group members, it is possible to understand some of the benefits of group-talk, including the creation of a unique opportunity for interaction, joint meaning creation and contradiction.

Practice Approaches And The Ethnography Of Communication: Investigating For The Possibility Of A Mutually Beneficial Relationship, Keith Berry

The Qualitative Report

In this essay, I explore the areas of accord and discord between two efficacious modes of research: practice approaches and the Ethnography of Communication (EOC). As an interpersonal and intercultural scholar, I carefully analyze these approaches in order to find innovative ways to describe the diversity that I see in modern social interaction. Working against paradigms that suggest using either one approach or another, I engage this project hoping (expecting?) to find and/both alternatives for communication study. I argue that, in spite of their differences, practice and EOC traditions co-exist in a mutually beneficial relationship for the study of communication …

The Relationship Between Childbirth Experience And Psychological Functioning In The Postpartum Period, Dena Dian Daniel

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between the mother's perception of the birth experience, symptoms of the post-traumatic stress, and symptoms of postpartum depression. Sixty-seven participants ranging from 17 to 40 years of age completed a self-report questionnaire containing items from three instruments including the Perception of Birth Scale, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and the Davidson Trauma Scale. The findings reveal a more negative perception of the birth experience is significantly related to a greater frequency and/or. severity of. post- traumatic stress and postpartum depression symptoms following childbirth., These findings support the conclusion that an …

Incorporation Of Service Learning Into An Interpersonal Skills For Leadership Course Using The Serve Model, Susan Fritz, Brent Goertzen, Lillian Gomez

Higher Education

Interpersonal Skills for Leadership has been taught at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for more than 30 years and has been a key course students use to satisfy the communication/interpersonal skills requirement in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. While interpersonal skills topics are covered and practiced in the course, additional practice occurs through service learning with a client in a community agency. This requirement equates to approximately 6,500 service hours provided annually in the Lincoln community. This level of service requires a well-developed placement and evaluation process. The course incorporates the SERVE model for integrating service learning into …

Organizational Factors Contributing To Worker Frustration: The Precursor To Burnout, Cathleen A. Lewandowski

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examined the organizationalf actors that contribute to workers' frustration with their work situation. The sample included 141 service professionals who attended workshops on burnout in 2001. The purpose of the workshops was to increase awareness regarding the organizational factors that could contribute to burnout. Findings indicate that factors most directly affecting clients were predictive of frustration, rather than factors that may indirectly support service quality or factors impacting workers' professional autonomy. A sense of powerlessness and isolation was also predictive of frustration, suggesting that participants viewed workplace problems as a private rather than an organizational concern. To address …

"Fine Designs" From Italy: Montessori Education And The Reggio Approach, Carolyn P. Edwards

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

Italy is not a huge country, nor one that dominates research in scientific areas like biotechnology or computer science; but in the particular field of early childhood, it can be described as a kind of gifted, creative giant. Italians have always revered beauty, architecture, painting, cuisine, and creative design. In a similar fusion of art and science, they have produced two of the 20th century's most innovative and influential leaders in early education, along with their methods of pedagogy and philosophies of education. The two figures were Maria Montessori (1 870-1952) and Loris Malaguzzi (1920-1994).

Both Montessori education and the …

Power Games Between The Researcher And The Participant In The Social Inquiry, Ana Bravo-Moreno

The Qualitative Report

This article will deal with the different power relationships that are in play during the interview process in ethnographic research. It explores how interviewees are agents in the creation of their own positions during the interview process and how they shift positions in interaction with the researcher and with the questions posed to them.

Service Learning Models Connecting Computer Science To The Community, Carol Traynor, Maria Mckenna

Service Learning, General

Service learning is an educational experience that enables students to apply material learned in the classroom by volunteering in a real-world situation. This paper provides a brief review of service learning and describes two models that the computer science department at Saint Anselm College implemented successfully.

American Poverty As A Structural Failing: Evidence And Arguments, Mark R. Rank, Hong-Sik Yoon, Thomas A. Hirschl

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Empirical research on American poverty has largely focused on individual characteristicst o explain the occurrence and patternso f poverty. The argument in this article is that such an emphasis is misplaced. By focusing upon individual attributes as the cause of poverty, social scientists have largely missed the underlying dynamic of American impoverishment. Poverty researchers have in effect focused on who loses out at the economic game, rather than addressing the fact that the game produces losers in the first place. We provide three lines of evidence to suggest that U.S. poverty is ultimately the result of structural failings at the …

Shift Work And Negative Work-To-Family Spillover, Blanche Grosswald

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A representative sample of the U.S. workforce from 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce data (Families & Work Institute, 1999) was examined to study the relationship between shift work and negative workto- family spillover. Negative spillover was measured by Likert-scale frequency responses to questions concerning mood, energy, and time for family as functions of one's job. Statistical analyses comprised t-tests, ANOVAs, and multiple regressions. Among wage earners with families (n = 2,429), shift work showed a significant, strong, positive relationship to high negative work-to-family spillover when controlling for standard demographic characteristics as well as education and occupation. Distinctions among …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 30, No. 4 (December 2003)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• AMERICAN POVERTY AS A STRUCTURAL FAILING: EVIDENCE AND ARGUMENTS - Mark R. Rank, Hong-Sik Yoon, & Thomas A. Hirschl
• SHIFT WORK AND NEGATIVE WORK-TO-FAMILY SPILLOVER - Blanche Grosswald
• BECAUSE A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE: WOMEN CASINO WORKERS, UNION ACTIVISM AND THE CREATION OF A JUST WORKPLACE - Susan Chandler & Jill Jones
• RESILIENCY FACTORS RELATED TO SUBSTANCE USE/RESISTANCE: PERCEPTIONS OF NATIVE ADOLESCENTS OF THE SOUTHWEST - Margaret A. Waller, Scott K. Okamoto, Bart Miles, & Donna E. Hurdle
• A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF SEX AND RACE INEQUITIES IN UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS - Melissa Latimer
• FINDING AND KEEPING AFFORDABLE …

Finding And Keeping Affordable Housing: Analyzing The Experiences Of Single-Mother Families In North Philadelphia, Susan Clampet-Lundquist

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The location, availability, and quality of housing shapes one's social networks, affects access to jobs, and impacts on social relations within the housing unit. However, access to affordable housing is limited for a significant portion of the population in the urban United States. In this study, I interviewed eighteen African-American and Puerto Rican single mothers in two low-income neighborhoods of Philadelphia about how they create and maintain their housing arrangements. Within the constraints of an affordable housing shortage, women told me how they struggle to share housing with others, rehab abandoned properties, live in substandard housing, and remain in unsafe …

Neighborhood Voices: Getting It Together -- Connecting Local Neighborhoods And National Advocates, Anne Pasmanick, National Neighborhood Coalition

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

This report, focusing on the national relationship to local organizations, local and regional coalitions, and the forging of complementary relationships, shows that the work of advocates based in Washington can be bolstered by a renewed immersion in the day-to-day challenges of "local" groups. The frustrations of the "local" groups can be mitigated with a deeper appreciation of the constrained realities of federal advocacy in a period of devolution, retrenchment in social services and relentless assault on the role of government in providing basic supports for people and their communities. The evaluation was constructed using a total of 216 surveys that …

Real Middle School Teachers, Rhoda C. Sommers

The Qualitative Report

Effective middle school teachers are more than the sum total of their educational beliefs and practices. They are whole persons whose lives reflect receptivity to growth, treasured relationships, and the intertwining of their personal and professional lives. This article uses the children’s classic, The Velveteen Rabbit, as a metaphor to describe effective middle school teachers.

Feminist Consciousness And Social Capital: Bonds, Breaks, And Bridges, Beverly A. Beyer

Master's Theses - Sociology and Anthropology

Through in-depth qualitative interviews with five current or former members of a midwestern National Organization for Women (NOW) chapter, this thesis explores four related research questions regarding: growth of feminist consciousness; how feminist ideology affects the evolution of social networks, and vice versa; the impact of intersecting social hierarchies; and feminism as a force for bonding and bridging social capital in the local community context. Analytical tools include feminist methodology, the articulation model, an understanding of intersecting social hierarchies, and grounded theory.

Participants each explained their gradual identification with feminism differently as a result of specific life experiences, although common …

Changing Patterns X: Mortgage Lending To Traditionally Underserved Borrowers And Neighborhoods In Greater Boston, 1990-2002, Jim Campen

Gastón Institute Publications

The present study is the latest in a series of annual updates of the original report, Changing Patterns: Mortgage Lending in Boston, 1990-1993. Beginning in 1998, the reports’ geographic scope was expanded to include an examination of mortgage lending patterns in 27 cities and towns surrounding the city of Boston. In this year’s report, the geographic coverage has been further expanded t o include a total of 108 communities.

This introduction is followed by ten pages of text that identify some of the most significant findings that emerge from the extensive set of tables and charts that constitute the …

Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, And Colombians: A Scan Of Needs Of Recent Latin American Immigrants To The Boston Area, Miren Uriarte, Phillip Granberry, Megan Halloran, Susan Kelly, Rob Kramer, Sandra Winkler, Jennifer Murillo, Udaya Wagle, Randall Wilson

Gastón Institute Publications

The 2000 U.S. Census brought confirmation of the increase of the Latino population and of the growing diversity of Latino national groups that now make this region their home. Latinos now number 428,729, a 55% increase over their numbers in 1990. In 30 years, the Latino population has increased six-fold, and from its initial concentrations in Springfield, Holyoke, and Boston its presence is now a fact across the Commonwealth.

Massachusetts Latinos are also showing increasing diversity, matching that of the Northeast region and exceeding that of the nation. At the national level, Mexicans have a dominance that dwarfs all other …

Autoethnographic Verse: Nickys Boy: A Life In Two Worlds, Ronald J. Ricci

The Qualitative Report

This autoethnographic verse is about my childhood experience of two distinct and ethnically representative family cultures. Poetry and qualitative research share in their goals of providing meaning, density, aestheticism, and reflexivity They are also evocative I selected verse as a means to express my experience, and to invite the readers reflections on this experience for themselves and others.

Memories In Context Via Cyber Reminiscing: The Case Of Marilyn Monroe, Kelvin Eng Yong Low

The Qualitative Report

This paper attempts to extend the various existing lieux de memoire available hitherto in the perpetuation and (re)construction of social memory by looking at the cyber landscape. Marilyn Monroe as an icon of American popular culture and thus of popular memory in this context, is explored, by looking at various select websites designed in commemoration of her stardom. Within this investigation, I also invoke the link between the production of social memory, with frames of remembrance and collective memory that therefore indicates memory as indubitably, a social phenomenon. The value of cyber reminiscing is also addressed briefly, by exploring how …

The Impact Of Devolution On Organizational Effectiveness: An Exploratory Case Study Of Faith-Based Child Care, Javier Stanziola, Tania Schmitz

The Qualitative Report

Although the foundations of President Bush’s faith-based initiative could be traced back at least to Colonial times, the re-packaging of this idea has raised concerns about the role of the federal government in the affairs of faith based organizations, the professionalization of social services, rent seeking, and the crowding out of private funding. This paper aims to examine the local implications of decentralizing the provision of social services in Lee County, Florida. More specifically, we will identify how devolution has affected the organizational effectiveness of faith-based organizations in the day care sector. For this paper, organizational effectiveness was defined in …

The Rattler (Volume 91, Issue 6, Edition 1), St. Mary's University

The Rattler (Previous issues)

Founded in 1919, The Rattler is the student voice of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. The newspaper documents campus life, academic and social issues, student opinion, and local and national events as they relate to the University community. Content typically includes news articles, editorial commentary, arts and culture coverage, sports reporting, and advertisements.

Larger Issues At Stake In Unnatural Sex Debate, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The recent debate about the criminal prohibition of oral sex provides an occasion for considering larger, related issues. However prevalent the practice of oral sex and however archaic Section 377 of the Penal Code seems to those pushing for its repeal, the arguments offered have tended to take a piecemeal approach and display an ignorance of or disregard for the larger interests at stake.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 79, No. 27, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

• Hoang, Mai. Tuition Assistance Approved
• Reed, Lindsey. Plus/Minus Proposal Tabled
• Reed, Lindsey. Student Rally Protests Grading Change
• Hoang, Mai. Hilltop Wiring Replaced
• Coffman, Josh. Shuttle Bus System May Get Boost from Congress
• Hopkins, Shawntaye. Dorms to Get Themed Living Options in Fall Semester – Housing & Residence Life
• Hightower, Kyle. Leave Worries Out of Holiday Season
• Lamar, Mike. Editorial Cartoon re: Class Cancellations
• Student Government Association Right on the Money – Class Cancellations
• Fisher, Lee. Turkey Day Not Complete Without This Special List of Ingredients – Thanksgiving
• Clark, Ashlee. …

Ua12/2/1 Ballin': Hilltopper Basketball 2003, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special edition of the College Heights Herald regarding basketball.

• Buckman, Josh. Road to NCAA Filled with Challenges
• Schoenbaechler, Danny. Paul Sanderford Returning to Bench
• Casagrande, Michael. Camryn Whitaker, Todor Pandov Return After ACL Rehab Sessions
• Casagrande, Michael. Post Players Don’t Stand Tall
• Wilberding, Beth. After Three Years of Change, Seniors Ready to Lead by Example
• Buckman, Josh. Women’s Schedule Dotted with Southeastern Conference Foes
• North, Amber. Towering True Centers Give Foes Reason for Concern
• Schoenbaechler, Danny. The Chosen One – Darrin Horn

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 79, No. 26, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

• Reed, Lindsey. University Senate Expected to Vote on Plus/Minus Today
• Hopkins, Shawntaye. Staff Seeks Sick Pay
• Clark, Ashlee. Native Song – Larry Yazzie, Native Americans
• Hopkins, Shawntaye. Dorms Get New Prefix – Telephones
• Hoang, Mai. Log Cabin to House Cultural Program – Folk Studies & Anthropology
• Lamar, Mike. Editorial Cartoon re: Online Advising
• Fisher, Lee. Loss of Familiar Friends Makes Area Bare, Drab – Landscaping
• New Online System Will Aid Students – Online Advising
• Reed, Lindsey. Resolution Asks for Notification – Student Government Association, Class Cancellations
• Sainlar, Lindsay. Event …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 79, No. 25, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

• Hopkins, Shawntaye. Full Power Expected to Be Restored Sunday
• Reed, Lindsey. Advising Tool Being Created
• Hoang, Mai. Western, Bowling Green Technical College Create Partnership
• Toone, Stephanie. Student Takes Hard Road Back – Christopher Cherry
• Hopkins, Shawntaye. Students Win Science Awards – Kentucky Academy of Science
• Lamar, Mike. Editorial Cartoon re: Power Outage
• Blackout Brought to Light Glitches in the System
• Balze, John. The Other Side of This Debate – Plus/Minus Grading
• Hoang, Mai. State Farm Makes $76,000 Donation – Gordon Ford College of Business
• Brueggemann, Marlene. Jean Kilbourne Warns …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 79, No. 24, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

• Hoang, Mai. Power Failure Knocks Out Lights, Classes
• Reed, Lindsey. Plus/Minus Hits, Misses Across State
• Hopkins, Shawntaye. Taste of Salsa – Bethany McGuffey, Ines Salvador
• Coffman, Josh. I-66 Debate Grows After Road Show
• Casagrande, Michael. Bowl Championship Series System Not Good Thing for Football
• Lamar, Mike. Editorial Cartoon re: Power Outage
• Wijenayake, Wimal. Review of Local Restaurant Missed the Mark – Figaro’s Pizza & Pub
• Fox, Donald. Bottom Line: The System Just Isn’t Broken – Plus/Minus Grading
• Warren, Brandy. Small Gestures Don’t Capture the Gifts Given by This Beloved …

The Rattler (Volume 91, Issue 5, Edition 1), St. Mary's University

The Rattler (Previous issues)

Founded in 1919, The Rattler is the student voice of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. The newspaper documents campus life, academic and social issues, student opinion, and local and national events as they relate to the University community. Content typically includes news articles, editorial commentary, arts and culture coverage, sports reporting, and advertisements.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 79, No. 23, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

• Hoang, Mai. Western Among First to Seek Bucks for Brains
• Hopkins, Shawntaye. Energy Use Causes Penalty
• Sainlar, Lindsay. Dream Makers – Theatre & Dance
• Hopkins, Shawntaye. Dorm Renovations Continue – Housing & Residence Life
• Hoang, Mai. Increase Hits Bowling Green Community College – Tuition
• Bill Not at All a Problem-solver – Credit Cards, Legislation
• Lamar, Mike. Editorial Cartoon re: Credit Card Legislation
• Martin, Ty. Thank You for Being a Friend – Regents, Tuition
• Edge, Crystal. Warm Temps = Cold Treatment – Weather
• Smith, Shaun. Gypped Out of Spaces – …