Sociology Commons^™

Environmental Imaginaries Of The Middle East And North Africa, Diana K. Davis, Edmund Burke Iii

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

The landscapes of the Middle East have captured our imaginations throughout history. Images of endless golden dunes, camel caravans, isolated desert oases, and rivers lined with palm trees have often framed written and visual representations of the region. Embedded in these portrayals is the common belief that the environment, in most places, has been deforested and desertified by centuries of misuse. It is precisely such orientalist environmental imaginaries, increasingly undermined by contemporary ecological data, that the eleven authors in this volume question. This is the first volume to critically examine culturally constructed views of the environmental history of the Middle …

Labor Pains In The Academy, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This piece offers autoethnographic reflections on crossroads to which many academics come: whether to seek (or postpone or avoid) parenthood and when. The author deeply explores the personal (her own trajectories from daughter and sister to potential mother and from graduate student to full professor) in order to reflect on structural constraints associated with graduate education, the academic job market, and institutional policies and politics.

Embracing The Visual: Using Timelines With In-Depth Interviews On Substance Use And Treatment, Lynda Berends

The Qualitative Report

People typically seek treatment for addiction only when faced with a major crisis. Understanding the trajectory of substance use and treatment seeking may assist in identifying points for intervention. In this study I explored the use of visual methods with in-depth interviews to represent people's substance use, critical events, and treatment pathways. Ethics approval was granted with the condition that only aggregate findings would be presented, although occasional quotes could be used for illustration. Typical timelines were developed, along with text vignettes describing hypothetical participants whose experience matched that shown in these timelines. Benefits of the timelines include the combination …

Comprehensive Treatment Of Women With Postpartum Psychosis Across Health Care Systems From Swedish Psychiatrists' Perspectives, Inger Engqvist, Arne Åhlin, Ginette Ferszt, Kerstin Nilsson

The Qualitative Report

Studies concerning the psychiatrist's experiences of treating women with postpartum psychosis (PPP) or how they react to these women are limited in the literature. In this study a qualitative design is used. Data collection includes semi-structured interviews with nine Swedish psychiatrists working in psychiatric hospitals. The audio-taped interviews are transcribed verbatim and analyzed using content analysis. The findings consist of the categories: Protection, Treatment, Care, and Reactions. The psychiatrists describe emotions such as compassion, empathy and distress. A conclusion is that the psychiatrists focus on protecting the women from suicide and/or infanticide. Given the degree of stress the psychiatrists can …

Career Paths, Images And Anchors: A Study With Brazilian Professionals, Zélia Miranda Kilimnik, Anderson De Souza Sant'anna, Luiz Claudio Vieira De Oliveira, Delba Teixeira Rodrigues Barros

The Qualitative Report

This article analyses career anchors changes associated to images and professionals trajectories. Its main question: Do anchors careers change through time? We conducted twelve interviews involving professionals from the Administration Area, applying Schein's Career Anchors Inventory (1993). We did the same two years later. In both of them, the Lifestyle anchor was the most found, reflecting the need of a balance between family life and work. It was observed that the main anchors tend to remain as such, but in some cases, it is possible to observe changes which are associated to career transitions. The reapplication of the Inventory supports …

Mandatory Identification Bar Checks: How Bouncers Are Doing Their Job, Elizabeth Monk-Turner, John Allen, John Casten, Catherine Cowling, Charles Gray, David Guhr, Kara Hoofnagle, Jessica Huffman, Moises Mina, Brian Moore

The Qualitative Report

The behavior of bouncers at on site establishments that served alcohol was observed. Our aim was to better understand how bouncers went about their job when the bar had a mandatory policy to check identification of all customers. Utilizing an ethnographic decision model, we found that bouncers were significantly more likely to card customers that were more casually dressed than others, those who were in their 30s, and those in mixed racial groups. We posit that bouncers who failed to ask for identification did so because they appeared to know customers, they appeared to be of age, or they took …

Learning To Appraise The Quality Of Qualitative Research Articles: A Contextualized Learning Object For Constructing Knowledge, Ronald J. Chenail

The Qualitative Report

Helping beginning qualitative researchers critically appraise qualitative research articles is a common learning objective for introductory methodology courses. To aid students in achieving competency in appraising the quality of qualitative research articles, a multi-part activity incorporating the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme's (CASP) Making Sense of Evidence Tool: 10 Questions to Help You Make Sense of Qualitative Research to evaluate the articles is shared. A Contextualized Learning Object for Constructing Knowledge or CLOCK approach is used to represent the appraising activity in terms of its context, content, evaluation components, exemplary outcomes, and options for customizing parts of the assignment.

Face-To-Face In Writing: My First Attempt At Conducting A Text-Based Online Focus Group, Steven R. Terrell

The Qualitative Report

Having completed graduate degrees in educational research and counseling, I have studied the theory of focus groups and participated in many while in a classroom setting. Interestingly, I had never moderated one until my first attempt in a text-based online environment. This paper describes my preparation for the session as well as the issues I faced while actually conducted the focus group. Readers will find that being prepared by establishing rapport with their group prior to the event, understanding the change of dynamics that distance brings to the process and handling the pressures of an expanded role as moderator, will …

"Can't Buy Me Wealth": Racial Segregation And Housing Wealth In Hillsborough County, Florida, Natalie Marie Delia Deckard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Informed by the literature regarding the gap in wealth between white and non-white households in the United States, as well as the literature on segregation and neighborhood preference, this research explores the home value component of the wealth gap in Hillsborough County, Florida. It finds that homes in Predominantly Black or Hispanic neighborhoods are not only undervalued compared to Predominantly White and heterogeneous neighborhoods, but have appreciated more slowly at least since 2000. The research also finds that buyers identifying as black or Hispanic are more likely than those identifying as white or "other" to purchase homes in Predominantly Black …

The Integration Of African Muslim Minority: A Critique Of French Philosophy And Policy, Amber Nichole Dillender

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The numerous images of violence perpetrated by radicalized followers of Islam, has highlighted the complexities surrounding assimilation and integration of Muslims in Western society. Since the guest worker recruitment from French African colonies initiated after World War II, France has been witness to the unanticipated development of permanent communities of African laborers, many of whom are Muslim. Despite consistent promotion of French monoculture and specifically the use of the assimilation model for integration, segregation of African Muslims has occurred. Through the construction of a single country case study, I explore integration issues surrounding the French Muslim minority communities. I seek …

Actualizing Empowerment: Developing A Framework For Partnering With Families In System Level Service Planning And Delivery, Kathleen Ferreira

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The engagement of families of children and adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) as full partners in individual treatment, organizational, and system level decision making has become an important focus for systems of care (SOCs) serving youth with emotional and behavioral challenges. SOCs typically include cross-agency partnerships with mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice, and education for the purpose of providing services and supports for youth with SED who have multi-agency needs. Implementation of a federal mandate requiring family driven care (FDC) within systems of care funded through the Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI) has revealed that most system of …

Friendship Networks, Perceived Reciprocity Of Support, And Depression, Ryan Francis Huff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using social network analysis as a theoretical framework, the current study examined the associations between self-reported egocentric network characteristics and depression among a sample of United States college students. It is important to understand factors related to depression among this population due to the severity of its potential outcomes (e.g., suicide and interpersonal problems at school). Drawing inspiration from a recent study conducted by Christina Falci and Clea McNeely (2009), the current investigation used OLS regression to test for both linear and curvilinear relationships between egocentric network size and depression. Potential interactions between network size, density, and gender were also …

Risk Of Nursing Home Admittance Among Working Age Residents With Mental Illness, Stephanie Jones Bernard

The Qualitative Report

The number of working age (18-64) nursing home (NH) residents with a mental diagnosis at admission rose from 70,600 in 1997 to 97,200 in 1999 (Jones, 2002). Utilizing the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations (Gelberg, Andersen, & Leak, 2000), I examined factors associated with NH admittance in a sample of working age residents with mental illness. I conducted a qualitative analysis of 20 residents' healthcare and social experiences leading to NH admittance. Data came from semi-structured interviews, medical records, and clinicians. Results showed that homelessness, drug abuse, and low functional status were perceived by residents to play a role in …

Anxiety, Knowledge And Help: A Model For How Black And White College Students Search For Hiv/Aids Information On The Internet, Kim Smith

The Qualitative Report

Using the "think aloud" protocol, which allows for the collection of data in real time, the researcher audio taped comments from 13 white college students from a predominately white university in the Southeastern United States and 15 black students from a predominately black university, as they explained how they searched for HIV/AIDS information on the Internet. A grounded theory analysis of the tapes revealed a three-stage model that students progressed through as they searched for HIV/AIDS information on the Internet. That model also revealed that all of the white students searched for general information about HIV/AIDS on the Internet, while …

The Quipped Project: Exploring Relevance And Rigor Of Action Research Using Established Principles And Criteria, Christine Chapman, Margo Paterson, Jennifer M. Medves

The Qualitative Report

This paper is the last in a series of three manuscripts published in the TQR journal over the past few years. This work is part of a larger program of research that has been carried out by a team of researchers detailing various aspects of a three year action research project carried out from 2005 and 2008. This particular paper addresses issues of quality in action research by critiquing our research against five interdependent principles and criteria raised in the literature specifically by Davison, Martinson and Kock which was published in 2004. Our action research project aimed to facilitate interprofessional …

Qualitative Researchers In The Blogosphere: Using Blogs As Diaries And Data, Ronald J. Chenail

The Qualitative Report

Weblogs or blogs can provide qualitative researchers with a medium for expressing their thoughts and opinions on qualitative research methods and products as well as serving as the source of data for qualitative studies. Present examples serve as exemplary guides to the potential value of this virtual communication application.

How-To Data Collection Series: The Evolution Of The Focused Discussion Group: From Non-Participant To One Of The Crew, José Luis Calderón

The Qualitative Report

This article is part of The Weekly Qualitative Report's occasional series on "How-To Collect Qualitative Data." The qualitative data collection method described is that of focused discussion groups (FDG's). This method involves the moderator, or scripter as is the preferred term in focused discussion groups, to move beyond that of a non-participant data collector to that of an engaged participant-observer, observer-participant who is willing to get into the discussion with the participants and to provide accurate information to them while prodding them to discuss the topic in increasingly personally meaningful ways. Focused discussion groups are particularly helpful for working with …

How I Learned To Conduct Focus Groups, Maribel Del Rio-Roberts

The Qualitative Report

The use of focus groups may provide researchers with important insights into research questions via participant discussion and interaction. As a human services practitioner and researcher, I became interested in learning how to conduct focus groups in order to apply these steps to my research and gain valuable insights about the human experience that the focus group interaction aims to bring to light. In this review, I will highlight the steps that I took to learn to conduct focus group research and through my experience I hope that readers gain familiarity and clarity into this unique qualitative research approach.

A Qualitative Approach To Spiral Of Silence Research: Self-Censorship Narratives Regarding Environmental And Social Conflict, Christopher John Ryan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this research is to seek narratives of self-censorship from in-depth interviews of 19 participants acquired through a purposive (criterion) sampling protocol. The primary research question driving this study is “What types of sanctions contribute to people choosing to self-censor their strongly held beliefs, values, and opinions.” Previous research conducted on the topic of self-censorship (generally under the rubric of the spiral of silence theory) has been predominantly quantitative and consideration of sanctions influencing self-censorship have been limited to fear of social isolation. I suggest that ostensibly important sanction variables have not been utilized within these existing frameworks. …

Sustaining Voice Through Leadership: How Do Deaf Leaders Sustain Voice In Challenging Dominant Systems, Darlene Goncz Zangara

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The vehicle in communicating cultural identity, recognition, and justice is voice. Reclaiming or sustaining one's voice is to stand up for what one believes in, or to preserve one's identity and place in society. The deaf individual or any other marginalized individual is expected to proceed through a series of deliberations to determine favorable actions that will be persuasive, with the goal of embracing the voice of the marginalized. The deaf individual's voice or meaningful intentions will need to be effectively interpreted into mainstream American society's language and paradigms. This requires one to reconstruct the meanings and mediate the facts …

Life Experiences That Contributed To The Independence And Success In The Lives Of Foster Care Alumni, Dawn Elizabeth Montgomery

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the factors which helped these foster care alumni to persevere and to succeed. The intent was to provide a framework for equipping youth in foster care more effectively by building on their strengths and the resources available in foster care. The study’s method incorporated the interviewing of ten ethnically diverse individuals who had experienced the foster care system. Based on their insights and the themes which emerged, the WARRIORS Model was created. This acronym represents the key themes derived from the interviews: Wounded, Advocacy, Reality of Belonging, Resources, Inspired to Succeed, …

Urban League Of Central Carolinas – Civil Rights Organizations In A New Era: An Action Research Study Of One Organization’S Pursuit Of New Strategies, Harry L. Alston

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

What leadership approaches and operational strategies should traditional civil rights organizations, like the Urban League, undertake to in this post-civil rights era? Specifically at the local level, what expectations must the Urban League of Central Carolinas satisfy to reassert its leadership in Charlotte? In recent years, an increasing array of social enterprises across different sectors has emerged to address failures in civil society. Civil rights organizations have long served a niche in the battle for an equitable society. However, the role of civil rights organizations in community revitalization has been diffuse and subject to fundraising constraints. I undertook this action …

Enough Hope To Spare: The Transformative Experience Of Birth Parents As Leaders In Child Welfare, Nicole R. Bossard

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explores the transformative experience from client and service recipient to collaborative leader and partner in child welfare. Rather than expanding on existing literature that examines the nature and quality of the client experience from a service or customer satisfaction perspective, this study reflects the lived experiences of "real, bonafide" birth parent leaders in child welfare systems in the State of Kansas, several counties in Washington state, and Contra Costa County, California. The goal of the study is to illuminate the journey from clienthood to leadership as experienced by the nine birth parent leaders in the study through research …

Socio-Economic Stability And Independence Of Appalachian Women, Michele Dawn Kegley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study researched Appalachian women who were in emotional, social, or economic reliant relationships with male spouses and became socio-economically stable and independent. This effort is to give Appalachian women voice and learn from their accounts of how they led change by financially, physically, and socially providing for themselves and their dependent children. Research is limited to a particular group of white middle class Appalachian women in the North-Central sub-region of Appalachia. This group was chosen because they have been largely overlooked in the literature. However, this study does not answer questions of all women‘s experiences and barriers in Appalachia. …

The Sexual Health Of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Questioning Youth, L. Kris Gowen

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although persons of different sexual and gender orientations often get grouped together under the term “LGBTQ” (for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning), it is important to distinguish between subpopulations based on sexual vs. gender orientation. A person’s sexual orientation is the gender to which a person is emotionally, romantically, and sexually attracted. Gender identity is how a person self-identifies as a particular gender regardless of biological sex characteristics. “Transgender” describes persons who are born a certain sex, but identify with, and consequently wish to live as, a different gender than the sex their anatomy dictates. According to data from …

A Case Study In Tanzania: Police Round-Ups And Detention Of Street Children As A Substitute For Care And Protection, Sheryl L. Buske

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

[Introduction To] Power, Culture, And Economic Change In Russia: To The Undiscovered Country Of Post-Socialism, 1988-2008, Jeffrey K. Hass

Bookshelf

Utilising cutting-edge theory and unique data, this book examines the role of power, culture, and practice in Russia’s story of post-socialist economic change, and provides a framework for addressing general economic change.

No other book places power and culture as centrally as this, and in doing so it provides new insights not only into how Russia came to its present state under Putin, but also how economies operate and change generally. In particular, the importance of remaking authority and culture -- creating and contesting new categories and narratives of meaning -- is shown as central to Russia’s story, and to …

Social Capital, Solidarity, And Cohort Effect —An Analysis Of The Production Of Social Capital Among Union Miners In Harlan County, Kentucky, Feng Hao

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The coal industry exercises a pervasive influence on mining communities in Appalachia, even though it exerts enormous damages on the environment and makes limited contributions to employment and the advancement of the communities. One explanation for this paradox offered by Bell is a depletion of social capital among coalfield residents in Central Appalachia (2009). Her data suggests that the “ripping away” of the region’s strong union identity lead to a resocialization, “from a ‘we’ mentality to an ‘I’ mentality, thus demising the store of social capital” (2009:655). My research aims to interpret how social capital resources among union miners was …

Not Yet Married: The Implications Of Meanings Of Marriage On Youths In Singapore, Paulin T. Straughan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Marriage is a social construct that takes on different meanings as societies develop and mature. To understand why people get married, it is important that we understand what marriage means. This paper will discuss the social transformation of marriage in Asia using Singapore as a case study. To examine two demographic trends- delayed marriage, and the increasing proportion of people who remain single - this discourse also explores the constraints imposed by contradictions between traditional norms and modern expectations. In the midst of these ideological challenges, there are important implications for the practice of marriage among younger Singaporeans. We see …

Towards A Cleaner Singapore: Sociological Study On Littering In Singapore, Paulin Tay Straughan, Narayanan Ganapathy, Daniel Goh, Everold Hosein

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Keeping Singapore clean has always been the priority of the National Environment Agency (NEA). We have made much progress over the years, but as Singapore's population grows amid changing demographics, littering remains a concern.