Sociology Commons^™

Evolving With The Times: The Changing Landscape Of Work Life Integration In Singapore, Paulin Tay Straughan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This year, we celebrate 10 years of our journey and look toward a new chapter in our history as we communicate the relevance and increasing importance of Work-Life strategies for developing human capital today. We consolidated research studies on Work-Life Integration to date so as to understand what has been accomplished in this field and set directions and trends for future research. We commissioned A/P Paulin Tay Straughan, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences and Deputy Head of the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore, to conduct this research. The study unearthed several interesting …

Mate Preferences In The Us And Singapore: A Cross-Cultural Test Of The Mate Preference Priority Model, Norman P. Li, Katherine A. Valentine, Lily Patel

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Sex differences have been found in mate preferences across several decades. Especially for long-term partners, men tend to value physical attractiveness and women tend to value social status. However, the sexes both value various other traits even more highly. Such findings thus diminish the importance of the sex differences and challenge the theoretical importance that evolutionary psychologists place on physical attractiveness and social status. Using a budget allocation methodology to examine mate preferences in both the US and Singapore, we found not only the usual sex differences, but also evidence that men prioritize physical attractiveness and women prioritize social status …

Sham Marriages, Ancillary Powers, And Moral Discourse: Toh Seok Kheng V. Huang Huiqun; Adp V. Adq, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Is marriage an institution (of public morality) or a contract (of private ordering)? In Toh Seok Kheng, the High Court concluded that it was unable to declare a “sham marriage” void just because the motives behind the marriage seemed improper. In ADP, the High Court held that since a void marriage meant there was no marriage to begin with, the “wife” was not entitled to maintenance, and there could not have been any “matrimonial assets” to be divided, unless she had a strong “moral” claim. This piece considers how the aforementioned moral-contractual dichotomy emerges in these cases.

Pregnancy And Mental Health Of Young Homeless Women, Devan M. Crawford, Emily C. Trotter, Kelley J. Sittner Hartshorn, Les B. Whitbeck

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Pregnancy rates among women in the U.S. who are homeless are much higher than rates among women who are housed (Greene & Ringwalt, 1998). Yet little research has addressed mental health, risk and resilience among young mothers who are homeless. This study utilizes a sample of women from the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Homeless Adolescents (MLSHA) to investigate pregnancy and motherhood over three years among unaccompanied homeless young mothers. Our data are supplemented by in-depth interviews with a subset of these women. Results show that almost half of sexually active young women (n = 222, μ age = 17.2) had …

Maturation, Peer Context, And Indigenous Girls' Early-Onset Substance Use, Melissa L. Walls, Les B. Whitbeck

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This paper examines a biosocial model of the impact of puberty on Indigenous girls' early-onset substance use by considering the potential mediating role of peer context (i.e. mixed-sex peer groups and substance use prototypes) on the puberty and substance use relationship. Data include responses from 360 girls of a common Indigenous cultural group residing on reservations/reserves in the upper Midwest and Canada. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that the statistically significant relationship between girls' pubertal development and early-onset substance use was mediated by both mixed-sex/romantic peer groups and favorable social definitions of substance use. Implications for substance use prevention …

Archival Methods And The Veil Of Sociology, Mary Jo Deegan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Archival methods of research are crucial to reconstruct. interpret. and evaluate contributions of early sociologists that are hidden behind the veiIs of racism and sexism. Many of these founding sociologists profoundly shaped their communities and created important organizations to combat social inequality and injustice. Their lives as intellectuals were frequently controversial. which made them political anathemas to mainstream sociologists, usually white males working in prestigious universities who wanted money. fame, and prestige for the new discipline and its leaders.

In this chapter, [recount how r began a career using historical research to understand the rich. alternative history of the profession. …

The Social Construction Of Infertility, Arthur L. Greil, Julia Mcquillan, Kathleen S. Slauson-Blevins

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Health and illness are not objective states but socially constructed categories. We focus here on infertility, a phenomenon that has shifted from being seen as a private problem of couples to being seen as a medical condition. Studying infertility provides an ideal vantage point from which to study such features of health care as inter-societal and cross-cultural disparities in health care, the relationship between identity and health, gender roles, and social and cultural variations in the process of medicalization. Infertility is stratified, both globally and within Western societies. Access to care is extremely limited for many women in developing societies …

An Experimental Examination Of The Content Of Persuasion Letters On Nonresponse Rates And Survey Estimates In A Nonresponse Follow-Up Study, Kristen Olson, James M. Lepkowski, David H. Garabrant

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Nonresponse follow-up studies are often conducted to understand whether respondents and nonrespondents differ on survey variables of interest in sample surveys. Methods used to recruit respondents often differ between nonresponse follow-up studies and main studies. One method is persuasion letters sent from study staff to nonrespondents that are tailored to the types of concerns raised by the respondent and recorded in paradata about the survey recruitment process. This study examined whether tailored persuasion letters yield higher response rates in nonresponse follow-up and whether respondents to a nonresponse follow-up differ depending on the content of the persuasion letter. Nonrespondents to the …

Are We Keeping The People Who Used To Stay? Changes In Correlates Of Panel Survey Attrition Over Time, Kristen Olson, Lindsey Witt

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

As survey response rates decline, correlates of survey participation may also be changing. Panel studies provide an opportunity to study a rich set of correlates of panel attrition over time. We look at changes in attrition rates in the American National Election Studies from 1964 to 2004, a repeated panel survey with a two-wave pre-post election design implemented over multiple decades. We examine changes in attrition rates by three groups of variables: sociodemographic and ecological characteristics of the respondent and household, party affiliation and political and social attitudes recorded at the first interview, and paradata about the first wave interview. …

Multiple Auxiliary Variables In Nonresponse Adjustment, Frauke Kreuter, Kristen Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Prior work has shown that effective survey nonresponse adjustment variables should be highly correlated with both the propensity to respond to a survey and the survey variables of interest. In practice, propensity models are often used for nonresponse adjustment with multiple auxiliary variables as predictors. These auxiliary variables may be positively or negatively associated with survey participation, they may be correlated with each other, and can have positive or negative relationships with the survey variables. Yet the consequences for nonresponse adjustment of these conditions are not known to survey practitioners. Simulations are used here to examine the effects of multiple …

The Importance Of Fatherhood To U.S. Married And Cohabiting Men, Veronica Tichenor, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, Raleigh Contreras, Karina M. Shreffler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Using a non-hierarchical approach to identity theory, we construct a scale to analyze the characteristics associated with the importance of fatherhood in a national sample of male partners (N = 932) of U.S. women of reproductive age, including fathers and non-fathers. OLS multiple regression shows that economic situation is not associated with importance of fatherhood, but valuing career success, higher education, higher religiosity and non-egalitarian gender attitudes (compared to egalitarian) are associated with higher importance of fatherhood scores. Leisure, age, fertility problems, and non-egalitarian gender attitudes are associated with importance of fatherhood scores differently for fathers and non-fathers. Although fathers …

The Human-Environment Dialog In Award-Winning Children’S Picture Books, J. Allen Williams, Christopher Podeschi, Nathan Palmer, Philip Schwadel, Deanna Meyler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Picture books often play an important role in childhood socialization. Given the seriousness of environmental problems, we ask how natural, modified, and built environments have been portrayed in children’s books. To answer this question, we analyze the 296 books receiving Caldecott awards from 1938 to 2008. Two possibilities are explored with respect to content change. Growing concern about critical environmental problems, such as decline in biodiversity and deforestation, may have led to an increase in illustrations and stories about wild animals and the natural environment. Alternatively, the increasing isolation of people from the natural world may have resulted in a …

Age, Period, And Cohort Effects On Religious Activities And Beliefs, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Despite the theoretical emphasis on religious decline in modern societies, sociologists remain divided over trends in religious activity and belief that support or refute claims of religious decline. Much of this disagreement stems from the inability to distinguish between period and cohort effects when analyzing repeated cross-sectional survey data. I use the intrinsic estimator, a recently developed method of simultaneously estimating age, period, and cohort effects, to examine changes in Americans’ religious service attendance, prayer, belief in the afterlife, and biblical literalism. Results show that regular service attendance declines, predominantly across cohorts. There are also period-and cohort-based declines in biblical …

Predictors Of Change In Self-Reported Social Networks Among Homeless Young People, Christina D. Falci, Les B. Whitbeck, Dan R. Hoyt, Trina Rose

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This research investigates changes in social network size and composition of 351 homeless adolescents over 3 years. Findings show that network size decreases over time. Homeless youth with a conduct disorder begin street life with small networks that remain small over time. Caregiver abuse is associated with smaller emotional networks due to fewer home ties, especially to parents, and a more rapid loss of emotional home ties over time. Homeless youth with major depression start out with small networks, but are more likely to maintain network ties. Youth with substance abuse problems are more likely to maintain instrumental home ties. …

Heterogeneity And Its Impact On Thermal Robustness And Attractor Density, Yuri Cantor, Bilal Khan, Kirk Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

There is considerable research relating the structure of Boolean networks to their state space dynamics. In this paper, we extend the standard model to include the effects of thermal noise, which has the potential to deflect the trajectory of a dynamical system within its state space, sending it from one stable attractor to another. We introduce a new “thermal robustness” measure, which quantifies a Boolean network’s resilience to such deflections. In particular, we investigate the impact of structural homogeneity on two dynamical properties: thermal robustness and attractor density. Through computational experiments on cyclic Boolean networks, we ascertain that as a …

You Can’T Go To Zion With A Carnal Mind: Slackness And Culture In The Music Of Yellowman, Brent Hagerman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Jamaican deejay Yellowman is best known for “slackness” lyrics centred on masculine heterosexual potency, sexist objectification of women and graphic sexual narratives. Yet a deeper look at Yellowman’s life and recorded output suggests that when his slackness is read in the context of Afro-Jamaican culture, reggae history and his Rastafarian faith, a more complex interpretation of his slackness is needed. This study will draw on Carolyn Cooper’s (2001) theory that slackness is a “metaphorical revolt against law and order, an undermining of consensual standards of decency” (p. 141). Whereas the term “culture” is used in reggae to depict music that …

An Exploratory Study Of Intimate Relationship Socialization Among Black Collegiate Women, Ahlishia J'Nae Shipley

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The pathways through which individuals learn to appraise and behave in intimate relationships greatly influence the quality and stability of their relationships. Research on intimate relationships among college students guided by a socialization framework focusing on learning and ways of viewing relationships is limited. The purpose of the present exploratory study was to examine the experiences and processes wherein young Black collegiate women learn to approach, maintain, and reflect on their intimate relationships. This topic is particularly salient to Black collegiate women who find themselves navigating unbalanced dating scenes and negotiating love relationships while balancing academic achievement and career aspirations. …

Boundaries And Breaches: Complexities And Strategies Down On The Farm, Debra S. Kershaw

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Employing a wide range of theoretical and methodological tools, practitioners within an array of disciplines have attempted to gain new understanding about the structural changes in the agricultural system in the United States and around the world. From Agricultural Economists to Sociologists, quantitative and qualitative research has attempted to shed light on structural change in agriculture and its implications for the real lives of farmers, their families, and consumers of their goods. The current research adopts a comparative-historical approach to examining the particular affects of structural change in six counties in central Nebraska. The general theoretical frame on which this …

Generational Influences On Educational Perceptions Of Rural African Americans, Quentin Romar Tyler

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This study discussed research exploring intergenerational influences on the educational experiences and expectations of rural African Americans in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Hopkinsville is located in a district that has lagged behind reaching state and national benchmarks in educational attainment. It is home to one of the largest African American communities in the state and reflects striking disparities in educational achievement by race as it struggles to close achievement gaps generally. Through qualitative case study, this study found that both college track sons and parents shared comparable views on education while low performing parents and sons did not have the same views. …

Full Participation: Building The Architecture For Diversity And Public Engagement In Higher Education, Susan P. Sturm, Timothy Eatman, John Saltmarsh, Adam Bush

Faculty Scholarship

This catalyst paper offers a conceptual framework for connecting a set of conversations about change in higher education that often proceed separately but need to be brought together to gain traction within both the institutional and national policy arenas. By offering a framework to integrate projects and people working under the umbrella of equity, diversity, and inclusion with those working under the umbrella of community, public, and civic engagement, we aim to integrate both of these change agendas with efforts on campus to address the access and success of traditionally underserved students. We also hope to connect efforts targeting students, …

Collective Efficacy And Intimate Partner Violence: Community Context, Catherine B. Cowling

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Intimate partner violence is a very serious issue in the United States. In spite of improvements, there is still much work to be done. Policies focusing on formal controls such as arrest, orders of protection, and prosecution have questionable potential. However, collective efficacy and the examination of community context have much to offer the field of intimate partner violence. Collective efficacy, comprised of social cohesion, social capital, and informal social control, may be more effective in reducing intimate partner violence than use of traditional formal social controls alone. These community context variables may also be of great assistance in improving …

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Introductiom, Egon Bodtker, Gerald Rasmussen

The Bridge

This article contains the first four chapters of Arnold Bodtker' s autobiography. When preparing the autobiography for publication we decided that these chapters offered a significant piece of local history which deserved to be printed independently of the complete work. It tells a "coming of age" story that is an insightful and valuable contribution to the understanding of rural life in general, and Junction City, Oregon, in particular, from Arnold's birth in 1904 until his high school graduation in 1923.

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Remembrances: Early Years By The River: Growing Up In The Junction City Danish Community, 1904-2, Arnold N. Bodtker

The Bridge

I was born December 5, 1904, in Junction City, Oregon, on the farm, which later will be referred to as the "lower place." Quite often my father called it "Sibirien." (This is the Danish word for Siberia.) My memories from that place, where I lived my first five years, are spotty now, but nevertheless vivid