Community-Based Research Commons^™

Digital Technology Usage In Tajikistan, Siyovush Bobokhonov Dr., Pedro Quelhas Brito Dr., Umesh Ramchandra Raut Dr., Prafulla Arjun Pawar Dr.

The Qualitative Report

The rapid development of digital technologies is significantly changing how people live, and these changes have a particular impact on the younger generation in Tajikistan. Our study therefore aims to analyze the factors influencing young Tajiks' opinions as users of digital technology and to examine digital technology usage in Tajikistan. We conducted a qualitative analysis of the opinions of young Tajik individuals aged 18 to 30 and found that they generally consider digital technology to be an integral part of their daily lives. Data collection was carried out through focus group discussions (FGDs) and the data analysis was performed using …

Painting Stories And Filming Change, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Contributions to Books

Mithila Art has helped illuminate various aspects of the relationship between gendered Maithil social roles and Maithil women’s narratives in connection with a feminist participatory action research project conducted primarily in 2016-2017 in and around the northern Bihari town of Madhubani. While participatory action research philosophically and methodologically attends to process as much as product, Mithila Art played a role in the process and product of making a documentary film and in our capacity to understand and communicate with varied audiences about shifting Maithil gender norms. The research and filmic project provided insight into the complex relationship among the stories …

Energy Equity In India’S Renewable Energy Transition: A Policy Design Agenda, Aritra Chakrabarty

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

India’s transition to renewable energy has prioritized large-scale, grid-based electrification, often overlooking energy equity, particularly in rural communities. Many households would benefit more from decentralized solutions than from grid extension, yet current policies neither guarantee equitable access nor address pre-existing social and economic inequalities in energy distribution. This dissertation examines the sensitivity of India’s renewable energy policies to energy equity, with a specific focus on gender equity in rural last-mile connectivity. The study is guided by the fundamental question: How can implementation of solar energy program alleviate the lives of rural communities? Using a mixed-method approach that combines policy …

Sacred Space And Self: Feminist Reflections In The Church Of Mary, Ozan Can Yilmaz

Journal of Global Catholicism

This study recontextualizes Mary's obedience and nurturing characteristics as a counterbalance to Eve's disobedience, symbolically representing a trajectory towards reconciliation and redemption. It delves into Mary's multifaceted role as a bestower of life and grace, her intrinsic maternal compassion, and her facilitation of female empowerment. Through this analytical framework, it offers a nuanced perspective on pilgrimages to sacred sites associated with Marian veneration, suggesting that these journeys transcend mere historical and religious connections to become platforms for personal healing, spiritual growth, and the exploration of feminine identity. The research is underpinned by a fieldwork conducted at the Church of Mary …

Psychological Distress In Low-Income And Economically Marginalized Populations In India: Protective And Risk Factors, Dipti Singh, Shagufta Nasir, Juhi Sharma, Lydia Giménez-Llort, Mohammad Ghazi Shahnawaz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Studies at the juncture of development economics and public health take on considerable responsibility in addressing inequality and related mental health distress. Mental healthcare in economically marginalized populations requires depicting the linkages between socioeconomic status and psychological distress. In the present work, a sequential mixed-methods design was used to study 190 people in such communities in India. Gender-dependent psychological distress was found according to the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10) with moderate distress in women (M = 26.30, SD = 9.15) and mild distress in men (M = 21.04, SD = 8.35). Regression analysis indicated that gender significantly predicted psychological …

Improving Networking Supports For Women In The Workplace, Karen E. Pennesi, Javier Alvarez Vandeputte, Zsofia Agoston, Rawand Amsdr

Anthropology Publications

This report describes findings from research on networking activities and strategies among women in executive and leadership positions in Canadian organizations. The project was carried out by graduate student researchers in collaboration with the Women's Executive Network. Networking is defined as the creation and maintenance of a community of diverse interests, through in-person and online engagements, that can be mobilized for the benefit of oneself or other members of one’s network. We found that the shift to primarily online networking activities due to COVID-19 removed some existing barriers related to age, gender and location, while introducing others related to family …

Neighborhoods Matter; But For Whom? Heterogeneity Of Neighborhood Disadvantage On Child Obesity By Sex, Ashley W. Kranjac, Catherine Boyd, Rachel T. Kimbro, Brady S. Moffett, Keila N. Lopez

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Although evidence suggests that neighborhood context, particularly socioeconomic context, influences child obesity, little is known about how these neighborhood factors may be heterogeneous rather than monolithic. Using a novel dataset comprised of the electronic medical records for over 250,000 children aged 2–17 nested within 992 neighborhoods in the greater Houston area, we assessed whether neighborhoods influenced the obesity of children differently based on sex. Results indicated that neighborhood disadvantage, assessed using a comprehensive, multidimensional, latent profile analysis-generated measure, had a strong, positive association with the odds of obesity for both boys and girls. Interactions revealed that the relationship between disadvantage …

Beyond Choice: An Intersectional Analysis Of Identity And Labor In Online Sex Work, Shawna F. Felkins

Theses and Dissertations--Gender and Women's Studies

This intersectional project seeks to understand the complex labor, social lives, and community building of online sex workers. Building on the work of foundational sex work researchers, this project utilizes in-depth interviews, a survey, social media posts, and published writing and research from online sex workers to understand how marginalization and identity impacts participation and success in online sex work. Providing analysis on how race, gender, class, and ability intersect in the digital sexual marketplace, this project critiques the rise of neoliberal feminism in sex work spaces that stems from the centering of white and otherwise privileged sex workers using …

The Resilience Of Female Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence In Southwest Nigeria: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, Tobi F. Oloyede

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Nigeria endure harsh and traumatic experiences that affect their rights as women and their well-being. As the phenomenon of IPV persists in Nigeria, it is not only a family problem but a critical social and psychological problem. This study examined Nigerian female survivors’ hidden strength, agency, and resilience, rather than their powerlessness and vulnerability. Analysis of survey questionnaires, interviews, and secondary scholarship reveals that some Nigerian female survivors of IPV are able to cope whilst navigating stressful and traumatic experiences. The results also show that survivors’ ability to thrive and cope under …

“I’M Real I Thought I Told Ya”: Developing Critical Media Literacy Through U.S. Latinx Digital Media Representations, Solange T. Castellar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how audiences engage with U.S. Latinx media representations through the practice of critical media literacy. I interrogate how media consumers construct critical media literacy through interacting with U.S. Latinx figures on digital media platforms, particularly on the social-media app, Twitter, and the user-generated video content platform, YouTube. Throughout this thesis, I argue that users on these platforms who engage with U.S. Latinx pop culture figures, like Jennifer Lopez and Belcalis Almanzar (Cardi B), read, digest, and comprehend a variety of multimedia images, texts, or videos, and that this engagement becomes an accessible form of critical media literacy, …

Navigating Cultures And Development: An Account Of A Female Peace Corps Volunteer In Morocco, Renee Palecek

Student Research – Stevenson Center

Little is known of how the “doers” of development may navigate regarding her community’s culture and her job in international development. This lack of knowledge leads to the erasure of experiences, felt both by the volunteer herself, as well as the community members she works with. Through autoethnographic methodology, and analysis, I retell my experiences and entanglements as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco with Moroccan institutions and culture, with my own identities and prior American socialization. I examine three questions: (1) How does the female PCV in Morocco make sense out of and create value from life events, relationships, …

Sex Differences In The Response Of Left Ventricular Functions To Sympathetic Activation By Cold Pressor Test In Normotensive Young Adults, Simiat Elias, Ajayi Reina, Oloyo Ahmed

Biomedical Sciences, East Africa

Background: Reactivity to sympathetic stimulation can be used to predict future cardiovascular events. However, vascular reactivity, like other cardiovascular events, is expected to exhibit sexual disparity. This study was designed to assess the sex differences in the response of left ventricular function to sympathetic stimulation via cold pressor test (CPT).

Methods: Left ventricular (LV) function was assessed in fifty-one (26 males; 25 females) young adult (18- 35 years) consenting participants. Blood pressure, heart rate and left ventricular functions were assessed before and after sympathetic stimulation via CPT.

Results: Baseline levels of systolic blood pressure (SBP), end diastolic volume (EDV), end …

Understanding The Relationship Between Gender And Self-Efficacy In Northeast Texas Public Schools, Abbie Strunc Ph.D., Kimberly Murray Ph.D.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Using a sample of 147 K-12 teachers in Northeast Texas, the authors examine the importance of gender for teachers, and if gender impacts his or her own feelings of self-efficacy, while controlling for demographic variables. Findings enhance scholars’ understanding of how men and women view themselves and their perceptions of their own self-efficacy in education. This research also merges the literature in education and sociology, providing an example of how interdisciplinary research can improve our understandings of social problems found within educational institutions.

Gendered Recreational Fisheries Management And North American Natural Resource Policy, Erin Burkett

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation applies feminist theory to investigate women’s participation in wildlife-based recreation and how natural resource management organizations conduct stakeholder engagement in a North American context. Gendered social processes, including norms and expectations, as well as gendered cultures, can constrain women’s participation in recreation through social sanctions and disenfranchisement. Gender and leisure scholars have studied these dynamics in sport and leisure contexts, but how individuals negotiate these constraints is understudied in a wildlife-based recreation context. Social constructions of gender also contribute to imbalances of power within formal natural resource management organizations and influence how stakeholder engagement policies and programs are …

Mujeres, Identidad Indígena Y Educación Superior: Un Análisis De Caso De Las Estudiantes Del Instituto Superior Pedagógico “Pukllasunchis” Del Cusco / Women, Indigenous Identity And Higher Education: A Case Study Of The Students Of The "Pukllasunchis" Higher Pedagogical Institute Of Cusco, Alyssa Snyder

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación explora cómo afecta a la identidad de mujeres indígenas el acceder a estudios de educación superior en el Instituto de Educación Superior Pedagógico Pukllasunchis (IESPP) en Cusco. Este informe analiza las experiencias de las mujeres en el sistema educativo y cómo cambian sus identidades cuando vienen a la ciudad para estudiar. Para obtener una perspectiva sobre sus vidas y experiencias, realicé entrevistas semi-estructurada con cinco estudiantes mujeres y una entrevista con la directora. Además, asistí a cinco clases. Los resultados del estudio indican que cuando ellas vienen de las comunidades a la ciudad, muchas veces se sienten discriminadas …

What Street Harassment Means, Madison Davis

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper is exploratory research into how college-age women understand their experiences of street harassment. Street harassment is a normative experience for women living in patriarchal cultures, and is an intrusive experience faced regularly in public life. Women told their experiences as part of a narrative that changed over time as they aged from teens into college. Their experiences were not confined to the street, but experienced across public life, and women often carry the weight of harassment in silence. Women resign to the ongoing reality of harassment, and their experiences did not exist in a vacuum but a larger …

Is College Making Men Less “Manly?”: The Influence Of Time Spent In A Liberal Arts Environment On Masculinity, Samuel Oakley

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

In Otterbein’s explicitly-named and often-touted diverse and inclusive liberal arts collegiate environment, students are frequently exposed to the institution’s various messages regarding inclusive gender norms via administrative communications, curricular priorities, and the ideological content of extracurricular events. Taken together, institutional histories and contemporary practices demonstrate that Otterbein University purports to offer an environment permeated with an ideology that emphasizes the value of diversity, equality, and inclusion as part of a holistic educational experience.

My study includes three components. First, I administered the Bem (1971) Sex Role inventory (a scale originally designed to measure individual gender performance) to answer the following …

The Digital Gap: An Investigation Into The Access And Use Of Internet In Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Kayla Steinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although still less than 20 percent of the Nicaraguan population has access to the internet, in the years preceding 2012, internet in Nicaragua grew by 113 percent. This rapid development of internet in the country generates several questions, including: “Who has access to the internet in Nicaragua?,” Where are they using the internet?,” and “How are they using it?” This paper answers these three questions and investigates how the answers differ between different demographic groups, especially between young and older people and women and men, through the results of a survey distributed primarily in a public park with free wifi …

Community Violence Exposure And Sexual Behaviors In A Nationally Representative Sample Of Young Adults: The Effects Of Race/Ethnicity And Gender, Dexter R. Voisin, David B. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

This study examined whether exposure to community violence was related to sexual risk behaviors in a nationally representative sample of young adults and if there were gender or racial/ethnic differences in these relationships. The analytic sample for this study was drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and was composed of 7,726 unmarried, heterosexual African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic/Latino young adults aged 18 to 27 years old. Approximately 12% of participants reported some community violence exposures, with men and African Americans reporting the highest rates of such exposures. Regression analyses controlling for age, gender, parental education, and family …

Racism Vs. Social Capital: A Case Study Of Two Majority Black Communities, Bruce W. Strouble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several researchers have identified social capital as a means to improve the social sustainability of communities. While there have been many studies investigating the benefits of social capital in homogeneous White communities, few have examined it in Black homogeneous communities. Also, there has been limited research on the influence of racism on social capital in African American communities. In this dissertation a comparative case study was used within a critical race theory framework. The purpose was to explore the role of racial oppression in shaping social capital in majority African American communities. Data were collected from 2 majority Black communities …

Race And Punishment: Demographic Disparities And Patterns In The Blue Earth County Court System, Aaron Guerdet, Alyssa Haugly, Kelsey Mischke

Public Sociology Publications and Projects

This study examines potential race and gender disparities in sentencing decisions in Blue Earth County, MN courts. Using qualitative field observations and a grounded theory approach, authors observed and analyzed court proceedings. In total, three researchers conducted seven weeks of observations; the final sample consisted of 95 observed court sessions, 50 of them being closed court cases. Results show little discrepancy in gender and charges and sentencing rates. Though there are racial discrepancies in charges that suggest discriminatory policing decisions, the data shows that minority members are being sentenced at a similar rate compared to white defendants. In all cases …

Considering Sport Participation As A Source For Physical Activity Among Adolescents, Jennifer Pharr, Nancy L. Lough

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

BACKGROUND:

Studies have shown participation in sport is lower among girls than boys, decreases as students matriculate through high school, is lowest among Black and Hispanic girls and has a positive relationship with SES. With sport recognized as a contributor to physical activity and health in adolescents, consideration of diminishing rates of participation appears warranted. The purpose of this study was to identify patterns related to differences in self-reported sport participation between genders, ethnic groups, grades and SES.

METHODS:

This study was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data collected for a sport interest survey. All students in grades 8-11 attending …

Impact Of Accessibility To Schools And Economic Centers On Poverty And Gender Equity In The Philippines, Alexis M. Fillone

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Accessibility as defined in Fillone, et.al. (2009) means the ease with which the individual could avail of the social services and economic opportunities laid in geographic space. In measuring accessibility, this study used as gauge the cost of travel instead of travel time. In order to relate accessibility to schools and economic centers with poverty variables and gender equity concerns, this study used descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression modelling.

Gender Transformation At The Grassroots: A Gender And Development Program From The Practitioners' Perspective, Tyler Curtis

Master's Theses - Sociology and Anthropology

This study investigates the “gender transformative” Men as Partners (MAP) program as implemented in the West African nation of Togo. Using a qualitative research design, the project examines the successes and barriers of implementation, with an emphasis on the relationship of foreign (the American international development agency, the Peace Corps) and native practitioners (Togolese individuals implementing the program at the grassroots level). The study provides an ethnographic perspective of the researcher’s work as a MAP practitioner in Togo whose experiences are juxtaposed with seven different interviews from American and native practitioners administering the program on the national, regional, and community …

Narrative Framing Of U.S. Military Females In Combat: Inclusion Versus Resistance, James Scott Herford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study utilizes discursive data to examine how the strategic use of narratives inform policies that shape women's participation in military service overall and more specific, the current controversy over exclusion of women from participation in combat roles within the U.S. military. Specifically, I examine popular military newspapers, blogs and the Department of Defense 2012 Report regarding policies and regulations of female service members. In this study, I provide a sociological analysis of current military-cultural narratives and the institutional narrative discussing women's participation in combat roles in order to provide evidence of the current threat to the military form of …

Managing The Polarities Of Democracy: A Theoretical Framework For Positive Social Change, William J. Benet

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

People around the globe have embraced democracy to bring about positive social change to address our environmental, economic, and militaristic challenges. Yet, there is no agreement on a definition of democracy that can guide social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model is a unifying theory of democracy to guide healthy, sustainable, and just social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model consists of ten elements, organized as five polarity pairs: freedom & authority, justice & due process, diversity & equality, human-rights & communal-obligations, and participation & representation. In this model each element has positive aspects and negative aspects and …

Pemahaman Gender Mainstreaming Pada Perempuan Kader Partai Dan Ibu Nyai Pesantren Di Wilayah Banten, Bunda Sri Sugiri

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

No abstract provided.

Testing The Effectiveness Of The Men As Partners Program (Map) In Soweto, South Africa, Prudence Ditlopo, Saiqa Mullick, Ian Askew, Ricardo Vernon, Edwin Maroga, Sgidi Sibeko, Mokgethi Tshabalala, Rabbuh Raletsemo, Dean Peacock, Andrew Levack

Reproductive Health

This project was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Men as Partners (MAP) program in South Africa in terms of: changing men’s gender attitudes, norms and behaviors; changing aspects of gender dynamics in relationships; reducing the prevalence of unwanted pregnancy risk behaviors at individual and community levels; and increasing male involvement in gender based violence (GBV) and HIV prevention and in HIV care and support activities. The intervention activities implemented were MAP workshops, public demonstrations, and participation in community action teams. The evaluation of the interventions showed that about 30% of the workshop participants had also attended other MAP …

Gender Differences In Sexual Behaviors And Factors Associated With Nonuse Of Condoms Among Homeless And Runaway Youths, Duncan A. Mackeller, Linda A. Valleroy, John P. Hoffmann, Donna Glebatis, Marlene Lalota, William Mcfarland, Johnny Westerholm, Robert S. Janssen

Faculty Publications

Few studies have examined gender-specific factors associated with the nonuse of condoms among homeless and runaway youths (HRYs)–a population at high risk for HIV infection. In this article, we evaluate these factors and explore gender differences in background experiences, psychosocial functioning, and risk behaviors among HRYs from four U.S. metropolitan areas. Of 879 sexually active HRYs sampled, approximately 70% reported unprotected sexual intercourse during a 6-month period, and nearly a quarter reported never using condoms in the same period. Among males and females, having only one sex partner in the previous 6 months had the strongest association with nonuse of …