Community-Based Research Commons^™

Sense Of Belonging In The Urban School Environments Of Aboriginal Youth, Chantelle Am Richmond, Dawn Smith, * The Wabano Centre For Aboriginal Health

Chantelle Richmond

It is well established that educational attainment and social support are critical social determinants of health among Aboriginal Canadians. Still, the gap in educational attainment with non-Aboriginal Canadians continues to grow, and little is known about the role of social support as a health determinant among Aboriginal youth. In collaboration with The Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health (Ottawa, Canada), we undertook focus groups with urban Aboriginal youth at-risk to examine perceptions of their urban school environments, including access to social support. Data were analyzed using a general inductive approach. Results indicate that youths’ perceived level of trust is key to …

A Convergence-Building Model Of Superfund Site Communication: Building On Lessons From The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Anna G. Hoover, Lindell Ormsbee

Anna G. Hoover

Best practices approaches have guided governmental risk communication efforts at Superfund and other chronic risk sites for more than two decades, playing an important role in the ways in which those most affected by contamination make sense of risk. Such approaches can affect the information environment in two separate but related ways: 1) directly, through the explicit sharing of information, and 2) indirectly, through ongoing stakeholder interpretations of the processes by which that information is shared. To date, the indirect, process-related effects have not been addressed in assessments of communicative efficacy at Superfund sites. Thus, it increasingly is necessary to …

Poverty Knowledge, Coercion, And Social Rights: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To Social Epistemology, David Ingram

David Ingram

In today’s America the persistence of crushing poverty in the midst of staggering affluence no longer incites the righteous jeremiads it once did. Resigned acceptance of this paradox is fueled by a sense that poverty lies beyond the moral and technical scope of government remediation. The failure of experts to reach agreement on the causes of poverty merely exacerbates our despair. Are the causes internal to the poor – reflecting their more or less voluntary choices? Or do they emanate from structures beyond their control (but perhaps amenable to government remediation)? If both of these explanations are true (as I …

An Ethnographic Study: Becoming A Physics Expert In A Biophysics Research Group, Idaykis Rodriguez

Idaykis Rodriguez

Expertise in physics has been traditionally studied in cognitive science, where physics expertise is understood through the difference between novice and expert problem solving skills. The cognitive perspective of physics experts only create a partial model of physics expertise and does not take into account the development of physics experts in the natural context of research. This dissertation takes a social and cultural perspective of learning through apprenticeship to model the development of physics expertise of physics graduate students in a research group. I use a qualitative methodological approach of an ethnographic case study to observe and video record the …

Burglary Crime Analysis Using Logistic Regression, Daniel Antolos, Dahai Liu, Andrei Ludu, Dennis Vincenzi

Andrei Ludu

This study used a logistic regression model to investigate the relationship between several predicting factors and burglary occurrence probability with regard to the epicenter. These factors include day of the week, time of the day, repeated victimization, connectors and barriers. Data was collected from a local police report on 2010 burglary incidents. Results showed the model has various degrees of significance in terms of predicting the occurrence within difference ranges from the epicenter. Follow-up refined multiple comparisons of different sizes were observed to further discover the pattern of prediction strength of these factors. Results are discussed and further research directions …

Burglary Crime Analysis Using Logistic Regression, Daniel Antolos, Dahai Liu, Andrei Ludu, Dennis Vincenzi

Dahai Liu

Participatory Visual & Digital Methods, Aline Gubrium, Krista Harper

Krista M. Harper

Table of contents and introduction of Participatory Visual and Digital Methods by Aline Gubrium and Krista Harper. Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book editions from Left Coast Press .

Can Policy To Address Some Rights Address Breaches Of Other Disability Rights?, Sally Robinson, Karen Fisher Assoc Prof

Professor Sally Robinson

Governments must implement the UN CRPD. In practice, government prioritises policies relating to some rights more highly than others. This unequal implementation relates in part to constraints on government, including competing interests, multiple participants and incremental policy change. In the context of these constraints, can differential policy priorities address breaches of other disability rights? This paper tests this question in relation to support for people living in boarding houses in Queensland, focusing particularly on residents with intellectual disability. Among the core disability rights are the rights to housing and housing support (Article 19). For some people living in boarding houses, …

Education By Any Means Necessary: Peoples Of African Descent And Community-Based Pedagogical Spaces, Ty-Ron M. O. Douglas Ph.D., Craig Peck Ph.D.

Ty-Ron M. O. Douglas, Ph.D.

This study examines how and why peoples of African descent access and utilize community-based pedagogical spaces that exist outside schools. Employing a theoretical framework that fuses historical methodology and border-crossing theory, the researchers review existing scholarship and primary documents to present an historical examination of how peoples of African descent have fought for and redefined education in nonschool educative venues. These findings inform the authors' analysis of results from an oral history project they conducted into how Black Bermudian men utilized learning spaces outside schools, such as the family, Black church, and athletics clubs, to augment their personal and scholastic …

Using Risk And Participatory Communication To Support Community-Based Decisions: The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Future Vision Project, Anna G. Hoover

Anna G. Hoover

No abstract provided.

Addressing Economic Devastation And Built Environment Degradation To Prevent Violence: A Photovoice Project Of Detroit Youth Passages, Louis Graham, Armando Reyes, William Lopez, Alana Gracey, Rachel Snow, Mark Padilla

Louis Graham

This project increased awareness about issues of violence to youth, their communities, and policy makers through the technique of photovoice and its translation into photo exhibitions and other community events. Youth participants learned photography skills, engaged in critical communal discussions about important issues affecting their health, wrote reflective stories about their photos, and engaged in policy change efforts. Their photos depict the need to address economic devastation and built environment degradation to prevent violence in their communities. Youth presented policy makers and community leaders with an “insider’s perspective” of the issues facing their communities, with the hope of promoting policy …

Sudanese And Somali Refugees In Canada: Social Support Needs And Preferences, Edward Makawrimba, Miriam Stewart, Laura Simich, Knox Makumbe, Edward Shizha, Sharon Anderson

Edward Shizha

The aim of the study was to identify the unique support needs and preferences of African refugees in Canada. In-depth interviews were conducted with Sudanese and Somali refugees (n=68) living in two cities in central and western Canada. Refugees were interviewed individually to identify their support needs, current sources of support, available support programmes, barriers to access to support resources, and preferred support interventions. These refugees reported major support needs, depleted social networks, and barriers to accessing services and supports. They identified distinct preferences for support from peers from the same country of origin and professionals. Participants wanted group-level support …

A Phenomenolical Study And Meta-Analysis Of Declining Membership And Participation In The Church, Cliffrod E. Jones Jr.

Cliffrod E Jones Jr.

This study seeks to establish a multifactor approach to the problem of declining membership and participation that allows a broader defense against the negative effects of separate causalities. A meta-analysis of past and current study into the phenomenon investigates currently recognized causalities, and forms a grounded basis for the study questions, while personal interviews from a sampling of churches, church leaders and church members provides additional quantitative data for review, comparison, weighting and analysis of the phenomenon.

Confessions Of A Border-Crossing Brotha-Scholar: Teaching Race With All Of Me, Ty-Ron M. O. Douglas Ph.D.

Ty-Ron M. O. Douglas, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.