Social Psychology and Interaction Commons^™

How Well Do Interviewers Record Responses To Numeric, Interviewer Field-Code, And Open-Ended Narrative Questions In Telephone Surveys?, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Telephone survey interviewers need to be able to accurately record answers to questions. While straightforward for closed questions, this task can be complicated for open questions. We examine interviewer recording accuracy rates from a national landline random digit dial telephone survey. We find that accuracy rates are over 90% for numeric response and interviewer-code, single-response items but are astonishingly low (49%) for a multiple-answer, nominal, interviewer-code item. Accuracy rates for narrative open questions were around 90% for themes but only about 70% for themes and elaborations. Interviewer behaviors (e.g., probing, feedback) are generally associated with lower accuracy rates. Implications for …

Soldiers To Scientists: Military Service, Gender, And Stem Degree Earning, Christina Steidl, Regina E. Werum, Sela R. Harcey, Jacob Absalon, Alice Millermacphee

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The authors use 2014–2018 data from the American Community Survey to answer two questions: To what extent is military service associated with higher rates of earning a bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field (vs. a non-STEM field)? To what extent is this relationship gendered? The findings suggest that military service is associated with higher odds of completing a STEM degree and that this association is particularly strong for female veterans. Comparison across multiple STEM definitions suggests that military service does not simply channel women into traditionally female-dominated STEM fields. Instead, the findings show the biggest …

Transitions From Telephone Surveys To Self-Administered And Mixed-Mode Surveys: Aapor Task Force Report, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth, Rachel Horwitz, Scott Keeter, Virginia Lesser, Stephanie Marken, Nancy A. Mathiowetz, Jaki S. Mccarthy, Eileen O'Brien, Jean D. Opsomer, Darby Steiger, David Sterrett, Jennifer Su, Z. Tuba Suzer-Gurtekin, Chintan Turakhia, James Wagner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Telephone surveys have been a ubiquitous method of collecting survey data, but the environment for telephone surveys is changing. Many surveys are transitioning from telephone to self-administration or combinations of modes for both recruitment and survey administration. Survey organizations are conducting these transitions from telephone to mixed modes with only limited guidance from existing empirical literature and best practices. This article summarizes findings by an AAPOR Task Force on how these transitions have occurred for surveys and research organizations in general. We find that transitions from a telephone to a selfadministered or mixed-mode survey are motivated by a desire to …

A Comparison Of Fully Labeled And Top-Labeled Grid Question Formats, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The grid question format is common in mail and web surveys. In this format, a single question stem introduces a set of items, which are listed in rows of a table underneath the question stem. The table’s columns contain the response options, usually only listed at the top, with answer spaces arrayed below and aligned with the items (Dillman et al. 2014).This format is efficient for respondents; they do not have to read the full question stem and full set of response options for every item in the grid. Likewise, it is space efficient for the survey researcher, which reduces …

Competing Forces Of Withdrawal And Disease Avoidance In The Risk Networks Of People Who Inject Drugs, Elspeth Ready, Patrick Habecker, Roberto Abadie, Bilal Khan, K. Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We analyze a network of needle-sharing ties among 117 people who inject drugs (PWID) in rural Puerto Rico, using exponential random graph modeling to examine whether network members engage in partner restriction to lower their risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis C (HCV), or in informed altruism to prevent others from contracting these infections. Although sharing of used syringes is a significant risk factor for transmission of these diseases among PWID, we find limited evidence for partner restriction or informed altruism in the network of reported needle-sharing ties. We find however that sharing of needles is strongly reciprocal, and individuals …

Contextualizing The Covid-19 Era In Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters And Parallel Pandemics, Catherine Garcia, Fernando I. Rivera, Marc A. Garcia, Giovani Burgos, María P. Aranda

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being.

Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the …

Prospects And Challenges Of Population Health With Online And Other Big Data In Africa; Understanding The Link To Improving Healthcare Service Delivery, Rowland Edet, Bolarinwa Afolabi

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Big data analytics offers promises to many health care service challenges and can provide answers to many population health issues. Big data is having a positive impact in almost every sphere of life in more advanced world while developing countries are striving to meet up. Even though healthcare systems in the developed world are recording some breakthroughs due to the application of big data, it is important to research the impact of big data in developing regions of the world, such as Africa and identify its peculiar needs. The purpose of this review was to summarize the challenges faced by …

Why Does The Importance Of Education For Health Differ Across The United States?, Blakelee R. Kemp, Jennifer Karas Montez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The positive association between educational attainment and adult health (“the gradient”) is stronger in some areas of the United States than in others. Explanations for the geographic pattern have not been rigorously investigated. Grounded in a contextual and life-course perspective, the aim of this study is to assess childhood circumstances (e.g., childhood health, compulsory schooling laws) and adult circumstances (e.g., wealth, lifestyles, economic policies) as potential explanations. Using data on U.S.-born adults aged 50 to 59 years at baseline (n = 13,095) and followed for up to 16 years across the 1998 to 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement …

Are Biological Consequences Of Childhood Exposures Detectable In Telomere Length Decades Later?, Blakelee R. Kemp, Kenneth F. Ferraro

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Negative early-life exposures have been linked to a host of poor adult health outcomes, but are such early exposures associated with cellular senescence decades later? This study uses data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine the association between six childhood exposure domains (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage, risky parental behavior) and a biomarker of aging, telomere length, among 4,935 respondents. Telomere length is obtained from DNA of cells found in saliva and is measured as the telomere repeat copy number to single gene copy number ratio (T/S). Men who as children were exposed to risky parental …

A New Spin On Gender: How Parents Of Male Baton Twirlers (Un)Do Gender Essentialism, Trenton M. Haltom

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Families and sports are spaces for “doing” and “undoing” gender. The author presents qualitative interviews with 30 American men who recall their parents’ involvement in the gender atypical sport of baton twirling. The author analyzes the data using “doing” and “undoing” gender as well as “hard” and “soft” essentialism frameworks. Mothers are often supportive of their sons’ twirling, contributing to “undoing” gender and relaxing “soft essentialism.” Fathers do not see baton twirling as a normative pathway to manhood or masculinity, thus reinforcing “hard essentialism.” Fathers often take on an absentee role in their sons’ twirling. In rare cases, fathers “do” …

Introduction To Special Issue “Geographies Of Sexualities” [Journal Of Lesbian Studies], Emily Kazyak

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In this foreword to the special issue “Geographies of Sexualities,” I provide a review of the scholarly discussions about place and sexuality that have occurred in the past 20 years. I highlight five major themes in my synthesis of this scholarship: (1) how narratives about geography and sexuality are co-constitutive; (2) a critical interrogation of these narratives to demonstrate how more nuances exist than these narratives suggest; (3) assessments of the spatial distribution of women in same-sex relationships, comparisons to the spatial distribution of men in same-sex relationships, and analyses of the experiences of women in areas with high concentrations …

Methodological Appendix A For: Mcquillan, J., A. L. Greil, A. Rybinsk, S. Tiemeyer, K. M. Shreffler, And C. Warner Colaner. 2020. Is A Dyadic Stressor Experienced As Equally Distressing By Both Partners? The Case Of Perceived Fertility Problems. Journal Of Social And Personal Relationships. Doi: 10.1177/0265407520953903, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, A. Rybinsk, Stacy Tiemeyer, Karina M. Shreffler, Colleen Warner Colaner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Barnett, Marshall, Raudenbush, and Brennan (1993) provide an approach to crosssectional couple data that increases the power and precision of the estimates and allows the simultaneous analysis of both partners. Following Barnett et al (1993), we constructed two parallel versions of the distress scale for each partner by matching standard deviations of individual items. We randomly assigned each of the 10 items to an A or B group (each group had five items). This procedure resulted in two parallel subscales of distress for each partner. Overall, the subscales had equal amounts of error variance. The level 1 data were “stacked” …

Diverse Sources Of Social Support And Cognitive Functioning By Race, Ethnicity, And Nativity, G. Robin Gauthier, Marc A. Garcia, Catherine García

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study examines the relationship between social support profiles and cognitive functioning by race, ethnicity and nativity in older adults using cross-sectional data drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (2010 and 2012). We employed a hierarchical clustering routine to generate nine support profiles that differentiated three sources of support: children, wider family relationships and friendships. Cognitive functioning was measured as the score on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m), a 27 point scale of cognitive function. Our approach explicitly acknowledges the ambivalence and multidimensionality of close relationships and the resources embedded within them. Descriptive analyses revealed significant differences …

The Stress Mechanisms Of Adolescent Physical, Mental, And Behavioral Health, Lisa Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although the mechanisms are complex, stress is a risk factor for compromised physical, mental, and behavioral health in adolescence. The stress paradigm posits a system of relationships among social structures, stressors, personal and social resources, and health outcomes, offering a framework for understanding how adolescents’ life problems and the means to cope with them affect well-being. This chapter reviews the theoretical underpinnings of the stress paradigm, drawing on the stress process model and general strain theory. The chapter briefly reviews the biological underpinnings of stress and the role of brain development. Then, the chapter focuses on the social aspects of …

White Women Who Lead: God, Girlfriends, And Diversity Projects In A National Evangelical Ministry, Kelsy Burke, Amy Mcdowell

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

A robust body of literature has used feminist analysis to study white evangelical women in the United States, but few of these studies have addressed the reproduction of racial inequality. Beginning with the assumption that women-led evangelical ministries are racialized organizations, the authors examine the relationship between racial and gender ideologies and the messages of white evangelical women leaders at the IF:Gathering, a popular annual Christian women’s conference in the United States. On the surface, the women who lead IF embody a contradiction: they support the conservative gender ideology of evangelicalism while challenging this religious tradition by encouraging all Christian …

Is Perception Of Inability To Procreate A Temporal Phenomenon? A Longitudinal Exploration Of Changes And Determinants Among Women And Men Of Reproductive Age In Germany, Jasmin Passet-Wittig, Martin Bujard, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Continued postponement of births and increasing use of reproductive medicine enhance the relevance of infertility and related perceptions for fertility research. Fertility researchers tend to assume that an existing perception of inability to procreate is a stable trait among persons of reproductive age. This assumption is questionable from a life course perspective and has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore we investigate the prevalence, stability, and correlates of perceived inability to procreate. We apply between-within logit models to annual panel data (2008-2015) to study variation in perceived inability to procreate within individuals over time and between individuals. We find that approximately …

State-Level Determinants Of Hate Crime Reporting: Examining The Impact Of Structural And Social Movement Influences, Heather L. Scheuerman, Christie L. Parris, Alison H. Faupel, Regina E. Werum

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In this article, we investigate factors affecting hate crime policies by examining anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) hate crime reports as a type of policy implementation. Analyzing state-level data drawn primarily from the US Census between 1995 and 2008, we examine how structural and social movement mobilization factors explain hate crime reporting. We find that anti-LGBT hate crimes are more likely to be reported in more urbanized states and in states with both split political elites and a greater number of LGBT social movement organizations. We discuss the implications of our findings for separating the drivers of policy passage from …

Pregnancy Happiness: Implications Of Prior Loss And Pregnancy Intendedness, Stacy Tiemeyer, Karina Shreffler, Julia Mcquillan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objective: This study aimed to examine the interaction between pregnancy loss and pregnancy intentions on women’s happiness about a subsequent pregnancy.

Background: Anxiety about prior loss persist for women, even during subsequent pregnancies. It is unclear from prior research, whether a prior pregnancy loss shapes attitudes towards and feelings about a subsequent birth.

Methods: Using data from the 2002–2013 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), we used logistic regression analyses to explore the implications of a prior pregnancy loss for happiness about a subsequent pregnancy that ends in a live birth. We compared births classified as on-time, mistimed, unwanted, and …

Crime In Televised Presidential Campaign Ads: The Making Of Visual Metaphor, Lisa A. Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In televised campaign advertisements, political rhetoric potently combines with visual metaphors. Drawing on a digital library of presidential campaign ads from 1952 to 2016, the qualitative media analysis scrutinized how crime rhetoric became visual metaphor. Crime images were positioned and manipulated alongside other content to craft a story about crime and the candidates. Across all ads, two tactics emerged: depicting crime as a problem akin to other social ills – a dark stain; and posing crime as the sinister side to an otherwise vibrant society – a lurking shadow. Candidates were branded as janitors and sheriffs who could rally against …

Nativity And Country Of Origin Variations In Life Expectancy With Functional Limitations Among Older Hispanics In The United States, Marc A. Garcia, Adriana M. Reyes, Catherine García, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Grecia Macias

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study examined racial/ethnic, nativity, and country of origin differences in life expectancy with and without functional limitations among older adults in the United States. We used data from the National Health Interview Survey (1999–2015) to estimate Sullivan-based life tables of life expectancies with functional limitations and without functional limitations by sex for U.S.-born Mexicans, foreign-born Mexicans, U.S.-born Puerto Ricans, island-born Puerto Ricans, foreign-born Cubans, and U.S.-born Whites. We find that Latinos exhibit heterogeneous life expectancies with functional limitations. Among females, U.S.-born Mexicans, foreign-born Mexicans, and foreign-born Cubans spend significantly fewer years without functional limitations, whereas island-born Puerto Ricans spend …

Law And Same-Sex Couples’ Experiences Of Childbirth, Emily Kazyak, Emma Finken

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in Pavan v. Smith that states must allow married same-sex couples to both be listed as parents on their child’s birth certificate. Although the ruling garnered less media attention than the Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision on marriage, it nonetheless illustrates a significant issue pertinent to the families who are the focus of this chapter: lesbian same-sex couples who had children via donor insemination before 2015. Indeed, prior to this ruling, these couples faced an unequal legal climate insofar as only the biological mother could be listed on the birth certificate and thus …

Mutual Influence? Gender, Partner Pregnancy Desires, Fertility Intentions, And Birth Outcomes In U.S. Heterosexual Couples, Colleen M. Ray, Sela R. Harcey, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Competing hypotheses exist with regard to how men’s and women’s pregnancy desires and intentions are associated with births among contemporary heterosexual couples. There are compelling cultural and structural reasons to support either the hypothesis that men’s desires and intentions (patriarchal) or that women’s desires and intentions (matriarchal) will have more influence, or that both partner’s desires and intentions will be associated with births (mutual influence). In addition, patterns of change are likely to differ for couples that have children at wave 1 compared to those who do not. Path analyses of the of heterosexual couples (n = 615) who completed …

Unpacking The Black Box Of Survey Costs, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey costs are a critically important input to and constraint on the quality of data collected from surveys. Much about survey costs is unknown, leading to lack of understanding of the drivers of survey costs, the relationship between survey costs and survey errors, and difficulty in justifying the importance of survey data versus other available administrative or organic data. This commentary outlines a recently developed typology for survey costs, illustrates this typology using methodological articles that report on costs in pharmacy surveys, and provides recommendations for research on the relationship between fixed and variable costs as a major area for …

Bioskills Guide: Development And National Validation Of A Tool For Interpreting The Vision And Change Core Competencies, Alexa W. Clemmons, Jerry Timbrook, Jon C. Herron, Alison J. Crowe

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

To excel in modern science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers, biology majors need a range of transferable skills, yet competency development is often a relatively underdeveloped facet of the undergraduate curriculum. We have elaborated the Vision and Change core competency framework into a resource called the BioSkills Guide, a set of measurable learning outcomes that can be more readily implemented by faculty. Following an iterative review process including more than 200 educators, we gathered evidence of the BioSkills Guide’s content validity using a national survey of more than 400 educators. Rates of respondent support were high (74.3–99.6%) across the 77 …

Survey Costs: Where Are We And What Is The Way Forward?, Kristen M. Olson, James Wagner, Raeda Anderson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey costs are a major driver of survey design decisions and thought to be related to survey errors. Despite their importance, no common language exists for discussing survey costs, nor are there established criteria for identifying which cost metrics are useful for which purposes. Past efforts to study survey costs may have been hampered by the notion that more reporting is better reporting. This article starts by introducing a typology for survey cost metrics defined by the type of cost (estimated, observed in records, and actually incurred), currency versus non-currency measures, and level of aggregation (total, by components, per unit, …

A Comparison Of Frequency Of Alcohol And Marijuana Use Using Short Message Service Surveying And Survey Questionnaires Among Homeless Youth, Kimberly A. Tyler, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background: There are several benefits to using short message service surveying (SMS) to gather data on substance use from homeless youth, including capturing data “in the moment” and verifying the timing of one behavior relative to another. Though SMS is a valuable data collection tool with highly mobile populations that otherwise are difficult to longitudinally sample, the reliability of SMS compared with surveys is largely unknown with homeless youth. Examining the reliability of SMS is important because these data can provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between various risk behaviors, which may lead to better intervention strategies …

Are Self-Description Scales Better Than Agree/Disagree Scales?, Jerry Timbrook, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Questions using agree/disagree (A/D) scales are ubiquitous in survey research because they save time and space on questionnaires through display in grids, but they have also been criticized for being prone to acquiescent reports. Alternatively, questions using self-description (SD) scales (asking respondents how well a statement describes them from Completely to Not at All) can also be presented in grids or with a common question stem, and by omitting the word agree, SD scales may reduce acquiescence. However, no research has examined how response patterns may differ across A/D and SD scales. In this article, we compare survey …

How Do Interviewers And Respondents Navigate Sexual Identity Questions In A Cati Survey?, Jerry Timbrook, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey-based research has demonstrated that sexual minority individuals experience unique outcomes in areas such as physical and mental health (Boehmer et al. 2007; Hatzenbuehler 2014, 2017), crime (Herek 2009), public education (Kosciw et al. 2015), same-sex romantic relationships and family (Powell and Downey 1997; Umberson et al. 2015), and economics (Black et al. 2007). Having a reliable and valid measure of sexual identity (i.e., the way in which an individual self-describes their sexual orientation) (Gagnon and Simon 1973) is essential for conducting research on sexual minorities. Indeed, many national surveys such as the General Social Survey, the National Health Interview …

Male/Female Is Not Enough: Adding Measures Of Masculinity And Femininity To General Population Surveys, Jolene Smyth, Kristen Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey research and sociological theory each provide insights into how and why people and groups act, think, and feel. Sociological theories identify what concepts are important for understanding and representing the social world. That is, sociological theories inform what to measure in surveys, and, to a certain extent, how to measure it. Survey research permits sociologists to carefully specify what is to be measured vis a vis sociological theory, setting surveys apart as a social research tool. It is this level of specification of concepts and measures that allow surveys to provide continued value at a time when “big data” …

The Effect Of Question Characteristics On Question Reading Behaviors In Telephone Surveys, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth, Antje Kirchner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Asking questions fluently, exactly as worded, and at a reasonable pace is a fundamental part of a survey interviewer’s role. Doing so allows the question to be asked as intended by the researcher and may decrease the risk of measurement error and contribute to rapport. Despite the central importance placed on reading questions exactly as worded, interviewers commonly misread questions, and it is not always clear why. Thus, understanding the risk of measurement error requires understanding how different interviewers, respondents, and question features may trigger question reading problems. In this article, we evaluate the effects of question features on question …