Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

Visual Design, Order Effects, And Respondent Characteristics In A Self-Administered Survey, Michael J. Stern, Don A. Dillman, Jolene D. Smyth

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Recent survey design research has shown that small changes in the structure and visual layout of questions can affect respondents’ answers. While the findings have provided strong evidence of such effects, they are limited by the homogeneity of their samples, in that many of these studies have used random samples of college students. In this paper, we examine the effects of seven experimental alterations in question format and visual design using data from a general population survey that allows us to examine the effects of demographic differences among respondents. Results from a 2005 random sample mail survey of 1,315 households …

Individual And Familial Stressors Among Rural Nebraskan, Bilingual, Paraprofessional Educators, Rochelle L. Dalla, William E. Lopez, Vicky O. Jones, Yan Ruth Xia

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Individual (e.g., depression, learning styles) and familial (e.g., social support) factors affecting the psychosocial well-being of bilingual, rural Nebraska, paraprofessional educators were examined. Of 26 participants, 15 were first and 5 were second generation Hispanic immigrants. All were currently (n = 20) or formerly (n = 6) involved in an online, distance education, bachelor’s degree program in elementary education, with English as a second language certification. Results from data analyses are presented, as are suggestions for working with unique populations.

Mother–Child Bookreading In Low-Income Families: Correlates And Outcomes During The First Three Years Of Life, Helen Raikes, Barbara Alexander Pan, Gayle Luze, Catherine S. Tamis-Lemonda, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Jill Constantine, Louisa Banks Tarullo, H. Abigail Raikes, Eileen T. Rodriguez

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

About half of 2,581 low-income mothers reported reading daily to their children. At 14 months, the odds of reading daily increased by the child being fi rstborn or female. At 24 and 36 months, these odds increased by maternal verbal ability or education and by the child being fi rstborn or of Early Head Start status. White mothers read more than did Hispanic or African American mothers. For English-speaking children, concurrent reading was associated with vocabulary and comprehension at 14 months, and with vocabulary and cognitive development at 24 months. A pattern of daily reading over the 3 data points …

“It’S A Balancing Act!”: Exploring School/Work/Family Interface Issues Among Bilingual, Rural Nebraska, Paraprofessional Educators, Rochelle L. Dalla, Pallabi Moulikgupta, Wiliam E. Lopez, Vicky Jones

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Nebraska’s rural school districts have a rapidly growing Spanish-speaking student body and few qualified instructors to meet their educational needs. This investigation examined factors that promote and challenge the ability of rural Nebraska paraprofessional educators to complete an online B.S. program in elementary education, with a K-12 English as a second language endorsement. Interviews focused on the interface between school, work, and family, with special attention on family system change and adaptation. Twenty-six bilingual paraprofessional educators enrolled (or formerly enrolled) in the education program were interviewed. Twenty were first- (n = 15) or second-generation (n = 5) immigrant Latino/as. Influences …

Comparing Check-All And Forced-Choice Question Formats In Web Surveys, Jolene D. Smyth, Don A. Dillman, Leah Melani Christian, Michael J. Stern

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

For survey researchers, it is common practice to use the check-all question format in Web and mail surveys but to convert to the forced-choice question format in telephone surveys. The assumption underlying this practice is that respondents will answer the two formats similarly. In this research note we report results from 16 experimental comparisons in two Web surveys and a paper survey conducted in 2002 and 2003 that test whether the check-all and forced-choice formats produce similar results. In all 16 comparisons, we find that the two question formats do not perform similarly; respondents endorse more options and take longer …

Montessori Education And Its Scientific Basis, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Review of: Angeline Stoll Lillard, Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, Oxford University Press, 2005.

Montessori education is the subject of Angeline Lillard’s book. Montessori, a brilliant figure who was Italy’s first woman physician, created an approach that reflected a late 19th century vision of mental development and theoretical kinship with the great European progressive educational philosophers, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Johann Pestalozzi and Fredrich Froebel (Edwards, 2002 and Edwards, 2003). The many parallels between her ideas and those of the American progressive, John Dewey, her contemporary, are due to the fact that their ideas grew out of shared theoretical roots …

Children's Social Behaviors And Peer Interactions In Diverse Cultures, Carolyn P. Edwards, Maria Rosario De Guzman, Jill Brown, Asiye Kumru

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Cultural socialization has long interested behavioral and social scientists, but recent advances in theory and methodology have allowed researchers to construct new and more powerful theoretical frameworks for conceptualizing the complex ways in which children interact with their environments during the course of development. Studies of childhood socialization in the classic tradition of cross-cultural research were static in their approach to analyzing underlying processes because of limitations in the theories and methods available at the time they were conducted. Many studies, for example, involved straightforward associations or comparisons of levels of parental socialization pressure (the antecedent condition) with children's social …

“You Can’T Hustle All Your Life”: An Exploratory Investigation Of The Exit Process Among Street-Level Prostituted Women, Rochelle L. Dalla

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Between 1998 and 1999, 43 street-level prostituted women were interviewed regarding their developmental experiences, including prostitution entry, maintenance, and exit attempts. Three years later, 18 of the original 43 participants were located and interviewed. This exploratory follow-up investigation focused on the women’s life experiences between the two points of contact, with emphasis on sex-industry exit attempts. Five women had maintained their exit efforts and had not returned to prostitution, nine had returned to both prostitution and drug use, and one had returned to prostitution only. Three additional women had violated parole and been reincarcerated. Themes evident among those who were …

Nebraska Sociology On The Ground: A Souvenir Booklet To Accompany An Historical Walking Tour Of Faces And Places On The Lincoln Campus, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This 1-hour and 15-minute walking tour leaves promptly from the Nebraska Undergraduate Sociology Symposium (NUSS), Regency Suite, Room C, in the UNL Nebraska Union, on the City Campus. The tour includes eight locales of sociological interest (see map on the last page of this booklet) and features brief pauses at the Nebraska State Historical Society and the UNL University Archives. The first 15 participants receive this printed souvenir tour guide and related handouts. The tour will be conducted regardless of weather (rain, snow, sleet or shine) — please dress accordingly.

Bio-Bibliography: John Barron Mays (1914-1987), Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

John Barron Mays developed a humane sociological perspective with multiple roots, including formal training in English, firsthand experience in a settlement house, a distinguished university professorship in sociology, and lifelong work as an active poet. Mays’ felicitous professional publications often spoke not only to university colleagues but also to constituencies beyond the halls of academe on a series of interrelated topics, including adolescence, criminology, education, urban life, and poetry.

Theory, Values, And Practice In The Legal Lifeworld Of Sociological Jurisprudence: Roscoe Pound’S Views On Professional Women, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The lived social dimensions of Roscoe Pound’s theories of sociological jurisprudence deserve criticism in light of his often progressive worldview and frequent support of civil liberties. Especially important in this regard are his views on women. Despite Sayre’s (1948: 390) assertion that “there is no dualism to Pound,” the archival record reveals internal contradictions. That is to say, Pound’s attitudes toward women were multi-dimensional. His social attitudes-inpractice informed his sociological ideas and thus illustrate the lived conflicts in his professional lifeworld.

Involvement In Early Head Start Home Visiting Services: Demographic Predictors And Relations To Child And Parent Outcomes, Helen Raikes, Beth L. Green, Jane Atwater, Ellen Kisker, Jill Constantine, Rachel Chazan-Cohen

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

One strand of home visiting research investigates effi cacy while another investigates under what conditions programs achieve outcomes. The current study follows the latter approach. Using a within-program design in a sample of 11 home-based sites in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation study, this study found that three components of home visits (quantity of involvement including number of home visits, duration in the program, length of visits and intensity of service; quality of engagement including global ratings of engagement by staff and ratings of engagement during each home visit; and the extent to which home visits were child …

Child Care For Children With And Without Disabilities: The Provider, Observer, And Parent Perspectives, Lisa Knoche, Carla A. Peterson, Carolyn P. Edwards, Hyun-Joo Jeon

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This three-phase study, part of a larger study conducted by the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium (MCCRC), investigated the characteristics of child care providers in inclusive and non-inclusive center-based classrooms and family child care homes, the observed quality of care in a subset of these programs, and families’ perceptions of quality and satisfaction with child care services. A telephone survey of 2022 randomly selected Midwestern providers, 36% of whom provided inclusive services, revealed that inclusive providers rated themselves higher on most quality-related indicators. Inclusion status was related to observed quality in family childcare homes (n = 132), with non-inclusive homes …

A Seven-Minute Sketch Of My Research, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

My central project is to identify, explicate, and better understand the fundamental dimensions, consequences, and possibilities of human embodiment in the social world. This project is multifaceted and is continually evolving. Virtually all of my work contributes directly to this project, including my analyses of archives, biography, “bomb talk,” bureaucracies, doctoral training, environmental art and design, epistemologies, landscapes, libraries, novels, organizations, patriarchy, pedestrians, postcards, research methodologies, scholars, surrogate parenting, terrorism, and — yes — disciplinary history. Methodologies I use include: archival excavation, bibliographic research, case studies, disguised interviews, ethological observation, experiential reflexivity, framing, genealogy, key informants, participant observation, questionnaires, site …

Bio-Bibliography: William Clark Gordon (1865-1936), Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

William Clark Gordon was a clergyman and an early theorist of the relationships between literature and sociology. He earned a Ph.D. in the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1899 where he majored — within the School’s own Department of Sociology — in social institutions. As such, he completed his doctorate during the first full decade of Chicago’s pioneering sociological project — a fact noted but misattributed by Robert E. L. Faris (1967) to work in the University’s Department of Sociology in the Graduate School of Arts and Literature (Hill 2005). As a practicing clergyman, Gordon’s professional attentions focused on …

Effects Of Using Visual Design Principles To Group Response Options In Web Surveys, Jolene D. Smyth, Don A. Dillman, Leah M. Christian, Michael J. Stern

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In this paper, we show that in Web questionnaires verbal and visual languages can be used to create groups and subgroups of information, which influence how respondents process Web questionnaires. Following Schwarz (1996; and also Schwarz, Grayson, & Knäuper, 1998) we argue that respondents act as cooperative communicators who use formal features of the questionnaire to help guide them through the survey conversation. Using data from three Web surveys of random samples of Washington State University undergraduates, we found that when response options are placed in close graphical proximity to each other and separated from other options, respondents perceive visual …

Sociological Novels Reviewed In Sociology And Social Research, 1925-1958, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The Bibliographic Record reveals the novel as a distinctive and frequently used format for sociological inquiry and exposition. From 1925 to 1958, the pages of Sociology and Social Research identified and reviewed 140 examples of sociological novels. A bibliography of these novels is provided here, annotated with citations for the reviews in Sociology and Social Research. This “library” of sociological novels is a useful resource for research on American culture, student projects, and (not unimportantly) recreational reading that combines business with pleasure.

Under the editorship of Emory S. Bogardus, Sociology and Social Research routinely opened its pages to reviews …

Sociology And Poetry: An Introduction, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Poetry is a sociological reality. It has an institutional location within society, plays an important part in everyday social interaction, and promises very real results as a site for conceiving and explicating alternative social constellations. Simultaneously, poetry is sometimes difficult to grasp by those of decidedly a prosaic bent, and this includes too many sociologists. As poetry shapes — and is in turn shaped by — the active use of language in our culture on the respective parts of authors, speakers, hearers, readers, etc., the relevance and meaning of poetry can escape the sociological imagination when sociologists frame the social …

Bio-Bibliography: Stephen James Meredith Brown (1881-1962), Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Stephen James Meredith Brown, S.J., was born in County Down, Ireland, on 24 September 1881. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College and was ordained as a Jesuit in 1914. Brown also pursued studies at Tullabeg, Jersey, Paris, and Hastings. Teaching posts included Clongowes and University College. At the latter, he launched the post-graduate school of librarianship, serving on the faculty for 24 years. Brown founded the Central Catholic Library in 1922 and was its motive force for some four decades. He is remembered today as a major bibliographer of Irish literature.

Facs 170 Introduction To Early Care And Education: A Three Year Analysis And Peer Review Of College Teaching/Learning, Toni Hill-Menson, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

I. Peer Review of Teaching Project This project provides a way for college faculty to work with others in a supportive context to document and reflect on both the quantity and quality of student learning. Faculty members work in groups of 3-5 for a semester or year to support each other's exploration of not only what students learn but also how they learn, for a particular selected course. Personal goals: To improve teaching delivery and teaching methods for the enhancement of student learning and student professional development.

II. UNL's Peer Review Process The purpose is to improve college teaching and …

Showing That Early Childhood Education Works: Lessons From Italy, China, And The Usa, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Lessons from around the world; What does it matter about early childhood education? Why the controversy about public support for early childhood education? What process or system should be used to determine what works in early education? Can the same process be used to improve services? What is the role of government? Alternatives: 1. Consumers should determine… (What happens when private choices drive the market for early childhood services?) Observed quality of care in four Midwestern states; Parent data: “All things considered, how would you grade the quality of the care your child is receiving from his/her current caregiver?” Role …

Parental Ethnotheories Of Child Development: Looking Beyond Independence And Individualism In American Belief Systems, Carolyn P. Edwards, Lisa Knoche, Vibeke Aukrust, Asiye Kumru, Misuk Kim

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Over the past several decades, the topic of child development in a cultural context has received a great deal of theoretical and empirical investigation. Investigators from the fields of indigenous and cultural psychology have argued that childhood is socially and historically constructed, rather than a universal process with a standard sequence of developmental stages or descriptions. As a result, many psychologists have become doubtful that any stage theory of cognitive or socialemotional development can be found to be valid for all times and places. In placing more theoretical emphasis on contextual processes, they define culture as a complex system of …

Children’S Play In Cross-Cultural Perspective: A New Look At The Six Cultures Study , Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

A qualitative and quantitative reanalysis of the Six Cultures data on children’s play, collected in the 1950s, was performed to revisit worlds of childhood during a time when sample communities were more isolated from mass markets and media than they are today. A count was performed of children aged 3 to 10 in each community sample scored as engaging in creative-constructive play, fantasy play, role play, and games with rules. Children from Nyansongo and Khalapur scored lowest overall, those from Tarong and Juxtlahuaca scored intermediate, and those from Taira and Orchard Town scored highest. Cultural norms and opportunities determined how …

Prosocial Behaviors In Context: A Study Of The Gikuyu Children Of Ngecha, Kenya, Maria Rosario De Guzman, Carolyn P. Edwards, Gustavo Carlo

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This study examines children’s prosocial behaviors in everyday contexts that represent varying degrees of strength of situational demands. Behavioral observations of children (N = 89) ages 2 to 10 years (M = 5.25, SD = 2.23)., collected in Ngecha, Kenya were coded for 3 types of prosocial behaviors (nurturant, responsible and prosocial dominant) and the contexts in which these behaviors emerged (childcare, self care, labor/chores, play, idle/ social). Mixed factorial ANOVAs showed age differences in prosocial behaviors favoring older children as well as context effects. Prosocial behaviors occurred more frequently than in labor/chores than in play, idle/social or self-care contexts; …

Ensinando As Crianças Através De Centenas De Linguagens [Teaching Children Through “Hundreds Of Languages.”], Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Os sistemas simbólicos, ou "linguagens infantis", sao importantes para as crianças porque elas possuem muitas formas diferentes de aprender e pensar.

Experiêcias mais ricas, variadas e multidimensionais sào mais memoráveis do que experiêcias simplificadas, uniformes e unidimensionais.

O mundo contemprâneo exige que os adultos utilizem uma abordagem integrada dos símbolos.

Moral Development Study In The 21st Century: Introduction To Moral Motivation Through The Life Span: Nebraska Symposium On Motivation, Volume 51, Carolyn P. Edwards, Gustavo Carlo

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Questions of right and wrong, good and bad, lawful and unlawful, have been debated by philosophers, theologians, scholars, and ordinary people since ancient times. The moral domain represents humanity’s answers to three questions: What is the right thing to do? How is the best state of affairs achieved? What qualities make for a good person? However, the scientific investigation of the moral life has a much shorter intellectual history than does philosophical and religious reflection; nevertheless, it is not new. Moral development theory and research emerged as a critical topic over 100 years ago, at the beginning of the 20th …

Conceptions Of Relationships , Katie Taylor, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This study seeks to examine the relationships between young adults’ understandings of past and current interpersonal relationships and their conceptualizations of a personal relationship with a higher spiritual power.

Findings: •As hypothesized, students with permissive parents reported lower levels of Awareness and Realistic Acceptance in relation to God. •Contrary to prediction, students with permissive parents did not have higher scores on the Disappointment subscale of the SAI. •As hypothesized, students with authoritarian parents had higher scores of Instability or Disappointment in God on the SAI. •Contrary to prediction, students with authoritative parents did not have higher scores for Awareness, Realistic …

Collaboration As A Foundation For The Project Approach In Family Child Care, Joan Youngquist, Carolyn P. Edwards, Ruth Heaton

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Supporting children's curiosity was considered important at my family child care home. How could we best achieve this? As my assistant caregiver Deb and 1 attended professional development workshops, we began to wonder if the project approach (Helm & Katz 2001) would be an effective means of supporting inquiry and collaborative learning. Before we would commit ourselves, we wanted to learn more. We had many questions. Just what is the project approach? What does it look like? How will it support children's learning? What do we need to be successful with it? The literature suggested many examples of successful projects …

Perceptions Of Attachment Style And Marital Quality In Midlife Marriage, Cody S. Hollist, Richard B. Miller

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Based on attachment theory, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) theorizes that attachment styles influence marital quality. Although research supports this relationship among young couples, no research has examined attachment styles and marital quality in midlife marriages. We examined this issue using data from 429 married people between the ages of 40 and 50. Results indicated that insecure attachment styles were associated with marital quality, whereas secure attachment was not. These results suggest that EFT therapists can help midlife couples in distressed relationships move from insecure to secure attachment styles. However, the use of EFT to help these couples who have secure …

Sociological Thought Experiments: Five Examples From The History Of Sociology, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Iam honored to speak with you today about several topics close to my professional and personal heart. I say personal as well as professional because for some twenty years now my interest in the history of sociology has developed and deepened in tandem with the pioneering research conducted by my life-partner, MaryJo Deegan. Her work on Jane Addams and the Men of the Chicago School, 1892-1918 (Deegan 1988a) has become the paradigm example for the “new history” in sociology, and it is my inspiration for today’s discussion.