Sociology Commons^™

Bill Chambliss, On The Take: From Petty Crooks To Presidents, Gary W. Potter

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"On the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents (first published in 1978) was the product of seven years (1962-1969) of observational research in Seattle, Washington (Chambliss, 1988). Chambliss used his background in law and sociology to interpret the things he saw and the stories he heard on Seattle’s skid row. He gained entrée into Seattle’s underworld by posing as an itinerant truck driver. Outfitted in old, worn shirts, khaki slacks and with bearded stubble on his face, he interacted with the bottom echelon of Seattle’s crime entrepreneurs–bar owners, illegal card room and bingo operators, street-level drug dealers and prostitutes. …

A Profile Of Project Manager Work Engagement: A Field Survey, Thomas G. Henkel, James W. Marion Jr

Publications

Engaged employees are those who are involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work. Engaged employees also are those who are most likely to drive innovation, generate new ideas, have a sense of connection with their work activities, and are involved with the demands of their job (Gallup, 2013). Nowhere is the concept of employee engagement more important than with managing an organization’s projects. Ensuring a project manager is emotionally engaged with his or her work is crucial for project success to meet greater challenges in today's 21st century global marketplace. In this research study, project managers were asked …

Civilization And Self-Determination: Interpreting R.G. Collingwood For The Twenty-First Century - Part I, Gautam Ghosh

Comparative Civilizations Review

This article – the first of two – elaborates and endorses the understanding of civilization as advanced by R. G. Collingwood. Particular attention is given to two of his most neglected works, The New Leviathan and "What 'Civilization' Means." The New Leviathan in particular was written in the context of the rise of fascism and the prosecution of World War II. To support the war effort, Collingwood reconceptualized notions of civilization and linked it to a rationality of self-determination. Central to his argument are the distinctions he draws between civilization and barbarism, on the one hand, and between social, economic …

Explaining Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Use Of High-Volume Hospitals: Decision-Making Complexity And Local Hospital Environments, Karl Kronebusch, Bradford H. Gray, Mark Schlesinger

Publications and Research

Racial/ethnic minorities are less likely to use higher-quality hospitals than whites. We propose that a higher level of informationrelated complexity in their local hospital environments compounds the effects of discrimination and more limited access to services, contributing to racial/ethnic disparities in hospital use. While minorities live closer than whites to high-volume hospitals, minorities also face greater choice complexity and live in neighborhoods with lower levels of medical experience. Our empirical results reveal that it is generally the overall context associated with proximity, choice complexity, and local experience, rather than differential sensitivity to these factors, that provides a partial explanation of …

Tie Formation And Cohesiveness In A Loosely Organized Group: Knitting Together, Doris A. Palmer, Atsuko Kawakami

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this paper is to explore the elements of tie formation and group cohesiveness in a loosely organized group with no clearly stated goal, commitment, or purpose. We employed participant observation and personal interviews to discover factors related to group cohesiveness. With inductive approach based on our thick description of the study sites, such as meeting space and group conversations, we found the nature of relationships within these groups is affected by how each group was started and organized. Having an expressive leader may increase group cohesiveness in a loosely organized group, especially when the leader has a …

Music, Musicians And Barroom Aggression, James C. Roberts, Kimberly Mattern

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between live bands and the music they play and aggression in barrooms catering to young, college-aged patrons. Twenty musicians representing 14 different cover bands playing in licensed drinking establishments throughout Northeast Pennsylvania were interviewed about their influence on the behaviors of bar patrons. Content analysis of completed interviews revealed several important findings. Most notably, each of the musicians interviewed in this study reported being able to control and manipulate patron behavior, not just through the music they play, but also through their stage presence, their physical appearance and attire, and …

Enhancing The Experience: A Multiple Case Study Of Students' Experiences Using Arts-Based Techniques In Learning Qualitative Research, Sheryl L. Chatfield, Robin Cooper, Elizabeth Holden, Kelly Macias

The Qualitative Report

This paper represents the third in a series of reports published in TQR in which authors explore students’ experiences learning to conduct qualitative research. Prior researchers have suggested that emotional and experiential elements of the learning experience are key for students learning to conduct qualitative research; the use of arts-based approaches may help address these priorities. We gave students in a conflict analysis and resolution degree program opportunities to conduct qualitative research using either an arts-based or traditional approach to analysis. We identified several ways that arts enhanced the learning experience for students, and discuss considerations for instructors or others …

Social Forms And Culture Within Miller Park, Andrew R. Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

SOCIAL FORMS AND CULTURE WITHIN MILLER PARK

Andrew Griffin

109 Pages December 2014

This research explores the physical design and usage of Miller Park in Bloomington, IL for evidence of a cultural lineage to Frederick Law Olmsted and for indications that Miller Park functions as a third place locale as envisioned by Ray Oldenburg. The research also attempts to identify key cultural characteristics of the park, document park use, and assess Miller Park's cultural significance within the local community.

Observation sessions within the park and targeted intercept interviews provide first hand data about park usage and physical design elements. Key …

Associations Between Family And Interpersonal Processes And Emerging Adult Marital Paradigms: Does Adult Attachment Mediate?, Todd M. Jensen, Brian J. Willoughby, Thomas B. Holman, Dean M. Busby, Kevin Shafer

Faculty Publications

Current research on predictors of marital attitudes highlights the importance of family and interpersonal processes, yet fails to identify which factors are more important and whether there are mediators that help to conceptually simplify the process by which such attitudes are influenced. We examine the influence of family-of-origin quality and past romantic relationships on three specific marital paradigms, as well as the mediating role adult attachment may play in these associations. We used a sample of 1,210 single heterosexual males (23 %) and females (77 %), age 18–30 years, who took the READY assessment. Results indicated that family-of-origin quality, attachment …

Crime Control, Due Process, & Evidentiary Exclusion: When Exceptions Become The Rule, Elizabeth H. Kaylor

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

This paper uses the dichotomy between Herbert Packer’s (1968) two models of criminal justice advocacy – “crime control” and “due process” – as a rhetorical paradigm for understanding policy debate about the exclusion of relevant evidence at trial. Understanding the opposition between crime control and due process advocates as a rhetorical controversy, in which commonly-used ideographs camouflage dramatically different constructions of the concepts at stake, helps to illuminate the way each side mobilizes public support for their narrative of doing . While both the exclusionary rule (which prohibits the use of illegally-obtained evidence in criminal cases) and the “fruit of …

The Future Of Tableware And Cooking Vessels: Some Predictions And Practical Experiments, Ken Albala

College of the Pacific Faculty Books and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

The P38alpha Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Limits The Cns Proinflammatory Cytokine Response To Systemic Lipopolysaccharide, Potentially Through An Il-10 Dependent Mechanism, Adam D. Bachstetter, Bin Xing, Linda J. Van Eldik

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is a well-characterized intracellular kinase involved in the overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines from glia. As such, p38α appears to be a promising therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases associated with neuroinflammation. However, the in vivo role of p38α in cytokine production in the CNS is poorly defined, and prior work suggests that p38α may be affecting a yet to be identified negative feedback mechanism that limits the acute, injury-induced proinflammatory cytokine surge in the CNS.

METHODS: To attempt to define this negative feedback mechanism, we used two in vitro and two in vivo models …

Identifying Program Needs Of Women Detainees In A Jail Environment, Jeanna Michele Rodda

Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1980s, the population of incarcerated women has been steadily increasing. Approximately 200,000 women are incarcerated in prisons and jails in the United States (Clarke, Phipps, Tong, Rose, and Gold, 2010). There is an increasing level of comorbidity among the population of incarcerated women, with the majority requiring mental health, physical health, substance abuse and pregnancy services at the time of their incarceration or soon afterwards. Incarcerated women face a number of challenges; they are cut off from their primary support system and their children. Their physical health deteriorates, they lack appropriate coping skills, and often experience withdrawal symptoms. …

"But There's A Black History Month": A Content Analysis Of Ideological Framing And Presentation In White Nationalist Publications, Dylan Tomas Waite

Dissertations and Theses

The political climate in America continues to become more polarized each year. The "left" and "right" political parties are locked in near-constant struggle and it is often the people whom they are meant to serve that suffer the harshest effects of this struggle. This mainstream political posturing and hostile behavior has allowed for the continued presence, and some say resurgence, of racially motivated right-wing nationalist groups. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations and racist Skinheads have seen periods of strength and decline throughout American history. In the late 20th and early 21st Centuries they have begun …

Using Survey Methodology To Improve Surveys Related To Science And Engineering, Jolene Smyth

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Dr. Smyth will describe her work with the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) on the Survey of Earned Doctorates, Survey of Microbusiness Innovation Science and Technology, National Survey of College Graduates, National Survey of Recent College Graduates, and Survey of Doctorate Recipients. She will also present results of research examining the impact of survey mode preference on nonresponse and measurement, a topic of great interest to NCSES as they look for ways to maximize response and data quality for their surveys.

Technologically Mediated Artisanal Production, Tamara Kneese

Media Studies

From 3D printing to maker culture, there’s a rise of technical practices that resist large industrial and corporate modes of production, similar to what is occurring in artisanal food and agriculture. While DIY practices are not new, the widespread availability and cheap cost of such tools has the potential to disrupt certain aspects of manufacturing. How do we better understand what is unfolding?

Workplace Surveillance, Tamara Kneese

Media Studies

Employers have long devised techniques and used new technologies to surveil employees in order to increase efficiency, decrease theft, and otherwise assert power and control over subordinates. New and cheaper networked technologies make surveillance easier to implement, but what are the ramifications of widespread workplace surveillance?

Networked Employment Discrimination, Tamara Kneese

Media Studies

Employers often struggle to assess qualified applicants, particularly in contexts where they receive hundreds of applications for job openings. In an effort to increase efficiency and improve the process, many have begun employing new tools to sift through these applications, looking for signals that a candidate is “the best fit.” Some companies use tools that offer algorithmic assessments of workforce data to identify the variables that lead to stronger employee performance, or to high employee attrition rates, while others turn to third party ranking services to identify the top applicants in a labor pool. Still others eschew automated systems, but …

Musings From A Biased Jew, Marli R. Horwitz

SURGE

Saturday was Yom Kippur, the day we as Jews repent for our sins. During the holiday, we fast to afflict our souls, to provoke in ourselves to confess and obtain pardon. As I sat in Hillel’s morning services, I reflected on the ways I have intentionally or unintentionally harmed others. [excerpt]

The Rattler (Volume 102, Issue 9, 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.

People, Places, And Perceptions: The Individual And Contextual Level Predictors Of Trust In The Police, Kyle Burgason

Theses and Dissertations

A large number of studies have examined individual predictors of trust in the police yet considerably less attention has been directed toward exploring the influence of neighborhood level predictors within and across communities. The current study will add to the literature on public attitudes toward law enforcement by assessing the individual and contextual-level predictors of one's level of trust in the police. Specifically, we will examine individual-level data from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Institute on Race and Ethnicity's annual Racial Attitudes Survey with contextual-level data on the zip codes in which the respondents reside. Using hierarchical general …

Safe Zone: 101 Training Manual, Todd K. Herriott, Casey M. Halcro

Office of Diversity and Equity

Goals of the DUOC Safe Zone Program:

• To increase the overall campus community’s understanding and awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues

• To provide a greater sense of safety for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender student community

• To offer information to straight allies in positions where they may be in contact with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (as classmates, roommates, friends, residents, students, staff, faculty, etc.)

• To act as a resource of information regarding homophobia, heterosexism, transphobia and LGBTQ issues on the DUOC campus.

Self-Reported Memory Complaints: Implications From A Longitudinal Cohort With Autopsies, Richard J. Kryscio, Erin L. Abner, Gregory E. Cooper, David W. Fardo, Greg A. Jicha, Peter T. Nelson, Charles D. Smith, Linda J. Van Eldik, Lijie Wan, Frederick A. Schmitt

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: We assessed salience of subjective memory complaints (SMCs) by older individuals as a predictor of subsequent cognitive impairment while accounting for risk factors and eventual neuropathologies.

METHODS: Subjects (n = 531) enrolled while cognitively intact at the University of Kentucky were asked annually if they perceived changes in memory since their last visit. A multistate model estimated when transition to impairment occurred while adjusting for intervening death. Risk factors affecting the timing and probability of an impairment were identified. The association between SMCs and Alzheimer-type neuropathology was assessed from autopsies (n = 243).

RESULTS: SMCs were …

(In)Famous Cover Tunes Of 2014, Simon Orpana

The Goose

A cartoon and commentary by Simon Orpana.

A Qualitative Analysis Of Students' Perceptions Of Pursuing Pharmacy As A Potential Vocation, Michael W. Firmin, Valerie Bouchard, Jordan Flexman, Douglas C. Anderson Jr.

The Qualitative Report

We present the findings from a phenomenological, qualitative research study that explored the personal constructs of an inaugural class, entering a newly-established direct-entry, preferred admission, pre-pharmacy program at a private, selective, Midwestern university with an enrollment of 3000. The focus of the study was to appraise students' perceptions regarding their rationale for pursuing a future career in pharmacy. The sample consisted of 36 students (26 females, 10 males). Data was collected via in-depth interviews of each student who had enrolled in the first year of the program. Overall, students demonstrated their belief that they would be a good fit for …

Qualitative Case Study Guidelines, Saša Baškarada

The Qualitative Report

Although widely used, the qualitative case study method is not well understood. Due to conflicting epistemological presuppositions and the complexity inherent in qualitative case-based studies, scientific rigor can be difficult to demonstrate, and any resulting findings can be difficult tojustify. For that reason, this paper discusses methodological problems associated with qualitative case-based research and offers guidelines for overcoming them. Due to its nearly universal acceptance, Yin’s six-stage case study process is adopted and elaborated on. Moreover, additional principles from the wider methodological literature are integrated and explained. Finally, some modifications to the dependencies between the six case study stages are …

Ethical Dilemmas Of Emerging Latina Researchers: Studying Schools Serving Latina Communities, P. Zitlali Morales, Lilia D. Monzo

The Qualitative Report

This article explores some of the ethical dilemmas we have encountered as emerging Latina researchers in dual language school contexts. Informed by Chicana Feminist Theory, we attempt to analyze power in more nuanced ways, shifting the analysis of ethics away from traditional notions of power based only within the researcher rather than the participants. While we do not offer solutions to these dilemmas, we raise questions that we hope will spur thoughtful reflection and move the field of educational research into more equitable and ethical research practices across contexts.

Fearless: Mollie Sherman, Christina L. Bassler

SURGE

As the 14 days to End Sexual Assault ends, Surge highlights the fearless actions of Mollie Sherman, for her courage to speak up against sexual assault. [excerpt]

Marina Balina, Charlie Schlenker

Interviews for WGLT

IWU Professor Marina Balina spoke with Charlie Schlenker about the cultural changes that have occurred since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Balina, along with the International Studies Program at IWU, hosted a three day symposium, “The Freedom to Speak, Create, and Dream: 25 years of human experience after the fall of the Iron Curtain”, October 5-7, 2014.

Guest Editor's Introduction, Jayeel S.; Cornelio

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.