The article Agriculture Drainwater Effects on Wildlife in Central California, written by Harry M. Ohlendorf and Roger L. Hothem is found in the Handbook of Ecotoxicology. This handbook is a primary source because it was published by the CRC Press and has a review board made up of 16 reviewers. In California’s San Joaquin Valley and in other agricultural areas in the Western U.S., irrigation wastewater pollutes nearby aquifers with agrochemicals that have been applied to crops in order to combat pests and diseases. Much of the irrigation water is leached into evaporation ponds causing an abundance of food, this is because the soil underneath the evaporation ponds are nutrient packed allowing wild plants to flourish. The focus of this article is to analyze the effects of subsurface agricultural drainwater on the San Joaquin Valley wildlife. For the sake of the blog I will skip the methods used and move onto the findings. Most of the effects of agricultural drainwater on wildlife were first recorded at Kesterson Reservoir in 1983. The number one element in concern was Selenium because it bio accumulates and is toxic to bird embryos, birds, frogs, snakes, and mammals. Other elements were also recorded in high concentrations in organisms and evaporation ponds. This article ties well into my topic, which is the effects of agrochemicals on humans. This article helps prove the presence of agrochemical particles in subsurface agricultural drainwater. It would be interesting to assess how many people have reported heart disease or cancers and whether or not there is a correlation between where they live and where they get their water from. If many people are reporting diseases near agricultural fields and are drinking well water, that water should be tested for agrochemical particles.

Ohlendorf, H. M., & Hothem, R. L. (n.d.). Agricultural Drainwater Effects on Wildlife in Central California. In Handbook of ecotoxicology. Lewis .

It has been quite difficult to find good research articles that have to do specifically with my research topic which is the how building a better classroom community can better benefit the self-esteem and comfort of students in school which, in extension, will result in better academic grades. Because I wasn’t finding anything that I necessarily agreed with I decided to broaden my search. In doing so, I found an article that spoke about “place-based learning”. This text was called Place Based Education: Connecting Classrooms and Communities by David Sobel. This author has written many books and articles about place-based learning so I was able to gain a lot of information from him.

I discovered that place-based learning was very similar to the teaching strategy that I had mapped out in my head. It draws on the location of the school such as country, region, suburban or urban and the socioeconomic status of the surrounding communities and by doing so creates a more community oriented classroom. The students have a more hands-on approach to learning and much of the lessons learned are applied to different events or situations that students can see locally in their community. This idea originated from the concern that students didn’t feel that what they learned in the classroom had anything to do with the “outside world”. The fact that students had separated school from the rest of their life was dangerous because then the motivation for education was declining. Place-based learning was created to show students that they can make a positive difference in their community and that they can apply what they learn to their every day lives.

At the moment, I am continuing to do more research in this teaching strategy while also trying to focus a little more on the cultural awareness aspect of the place-based education strategy. I, personally, have a hypothesis that including local culture will greatly benefit kids in school. My target research group is Hawaii, however, I have found very little on any articles about education in general, so I will continue to broaden my search.

This article, Interview: Ghada Karmi, A Voice from Exile, was found in a journal entitled: Middle East Policy. Ghada Karmi is a physician at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. Dr. Karmi elaborates on the treatment and occupation of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. She explains how Palestinians in Israel are part of an apartheid state and are treated with extreme disrespect and are often victims of violence. The topic of this article is the effects of Israeli power over Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. The research question is: What are the major issues that people should know about the apartheid state in Israel? Dr. Karmi uses reports of acts, behavior, and events in addition to expert knowledge in order to show us just how brutal the Israel/Palestine conflict actually is. This in-depth interview calls on her personal experiences living in the region and experiencing the rivalry. Qualitative data methods with a respondent-centered analysis were necessary in reporting the personal accounts of a Palestinian woman. I think this research made it easier from a sociological perspective to see how Palestinians actually live in Israeli-occupied territories. Often, people analyzing foreign policy does not actually look at daily life and how the policy affects the people living there. This interview allowed me to analyze a first-hand experience which gave me more empathy for the situation. I think this factor in of itself is interesting and why I enjoy applying sociological theory to policy issues. Being able to empathize with human beings is important if we want to make a difference in the world. Dr. Karmi’s willingness to show us this helps us understand the struggle between two world powers.

Karmi, Ghada. “Interview: Ghadi Karmi, A Voice from Exile.” Middle East Policy, vol. 17, no. 1, 2010, pp. 82-89.

The title of the Journal is “Progressive architecture”.” The article within the Journal is called “Bussel, A. (1995). Don’t kill the NEA. Progressive Architecture, 76(8), 9.” The abstract of this article discussed how dismantling the National Endowment for the Arts would put a huge halt to modestly funded design programs. This is because the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) is the only national advocate for the art and design community. The article states that if people want to have a voice in decisions affecting the environment in relationship to architecture, there will be a strong need for more federal backing/money. The author questions how to get more federal backing, and explores options to make the art and design community flourish more. The author continues to explain the reasons why art and design is important/crucial in our rapidly developing world. To gather data for this article, you would need expert knowledge because the information is not common knowledge. You would need to do quantitative analysis because the data is numeric.  This research is very persuasive. It has a clear goal to gain more funding from the federal government and is backed up with quotes and good data. I think that my classmates and other readers might find the quotes within the article, regarding how important design programs are to the word as a whole, to be interesting.

Bussel, A. (1995). Don’t kill the NEA. Progressive Architecture, 76(8), 9.

While I was unable to find a printed research article in the Armacost Library regarding the relationship between mental illness and socioeconomic status, which is my research topic, I did find a few research articles on education strategies that can increase the future success rate of children from low income families to match that of children from other economic backgrounds. I felt that this was related to my topic in that the articles focused on pinpointing a specific factor that contributes to socioeconomic stratification, quality of available education, and offered realistic solutions. I found these articles in the Journal of Education Psychology and have decided to focus on the article “Low-Income Immigrant Pupils Learning Vocabulary Through Digital Picture Storybooks” by Marian J. A. J. Verhallen and Adriana G. Bus. The study was done in the Netherlands and the main questions the researchers wanted to answer were “does presentation format effect the development of vocabulary for preliterate, immigrant children?” and “are receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary differentially affected by presentation format?”. Demographic data and shallow reports of acts were needed to answer these questions. Participants were acquired by contacting teachers and school administrations for information regarding their students’ backgrounds in order to determine which students fit into their demographic requirements (5 years old, used Moroccan-Berber or Turkish at home, were of a low-income family, etc.). Students that met demographic requirements were then tested academically in their Dutch language abilities and non-verbal intelligence. The remaining students that met the criteria were exposed to different story-telling presentations through CD-ROM. One story was told with static illustration, while the other was a video. Their results, analyzed through covariance (ANCOVAs), found that while both types of story-telling were effective, the video version of the story was more effective in teaching new vocabulary to the students. There was no difference between receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary between the two formats, although it was determined that receptive vocabulary is acquired more easily than expressive vocabulary regardless of exposure format. I personally felt that the study was thorough and well-done, as it even mentioned ways in which to expose this demographic of students to video story-telling in order to increase their vocabulary which translates into better understanding of their school material. This would hypothetically increase their chances of success later in their education if they were exposed to video story-telling. Although I think that whether or not the results of the study would be taken seriously by schools with a large minority population and give children access to those resources is critical to the research findings having any effect. It is possible that lack of willingness to accommodate minority children is a factor in their stunted vocabulary development that could have been tested for or taken into consideration

Verhallen, M., Bus, A. (2010). Low-Income Immigrant Pupils Learning Vocabulary Through Digital Picture Storybooks. Journal of Educational Psychology. (Vol. 102, No. 1, pp. 54-61).

After a long search through the printed journals at Armacost Library, I was unfortunately unable to find anything that directly focused on my topic (natural childbirth). However, I was able to find an article in the Journal of Applied Psychology, a peer-reviewed journal that the library has a small stack of, that had a study about the correlation between motherhood and employment. The article is titled “Motherhood: A Potential Source of Bias in Employment Decisions” by Madeline E. Heilman and Tyler G. Okimoto. The topic of the study was mothers in the workforce, and the research question was asking whether or not the gender stereotypes about mothers interfere with their potential promotion in the workforce. The type of data that was needed for the study was shallow opinions and attitudes. The way that this data was collected was through questionnaires, and the data was analyzed by comparing the results from them.

The first experiment was done with a group of undergraduate students from an introductory psychology course, and the second was done with MBA students who were also full-time employees of businesses. These students were given limited information about four people who were supposedly applying for promotions: one mother, one father, one male (with no children), and one female (with no children). Based on the information given about each candidate, these students had to decide who would be the best fit for the job. The study concluded that the bias due to stereotypes toward motherhood does inhibit the advancement of women in the workforce.

The topic and question are interesting, but I think that the study could have been done in a better way. It would have been fascinating to interview some of the participants of the study to see why they felt the way that they did, and what lead them to make their hiring decision, rather than just getting the numbers.

The article:

Heilman, Madeline E. and Tyler G. Okimoto. 2008. “Motherhood: A Potential Source of Bias in Employment Decisions.” The Journal of Applied Psychology volume 93(1). 189-198.

Warren, Rachel Meltzer. “The New Super Bowls.” Consumer Reports, October 2017, 42-47.

My topic for our research project is about the relationship between socio-economic status and conspicuous consumption in the U.S. I could not find many periodicals about my topic, so I used the October edition of Consumer Reports to find my article. The article I chose discusses the trendiness of “super bowls,” which is a new food craze consisting of whole grains, vegetables, and protein all packed into one dish. There’s a lot of publicity and hype surrounding this new food trend, and a lot of misconceptions have formed due to misleading advertising. Many restaurants and companies that sell frozen meals are capitalizing on this trend, but misleading the consumer with advertising and a high price tag that leads them to believe it is a healthier option than it is. This article takes 26 popular power bowls and researches their nutrition facts to determine whether or not they are as healthy as advertised, or if the business is just trying to capitalize off the consumer. Overall, the research showed that many bowls were not as healthy as advertised, and appeared to be a marketing ploy to attract wealthier consumers with the promise of a trendy and healthy meal.

This article’s research topic is about the healthiness of “super bowls.” The Research question is “How do the 26 most popular power bowls compare to each other based on the nutrition facts?” This article wanted to compare the nutrition facts to see if companies are really providing high quality meals for a justified price, or if they are targeting a specific segment of consumers who are interested in conspicuously consuming trendy foods that are marketed to be “healthy.” To answer this research question, the author of the article needed expert knowledge from nutritionists. They needed to ask nutritional experts about the standards for what each person should be consuming each day, in order to determine if each meal was actually healthy or not. The author also needed personal opinions on the taste of each bowl, as that is another category she wanted to research.

In order to collect the data on each super bowl, the author used shallow interviews with nutritional experts to gain a better understanding of the healthy portions of vegetables, grains, and proteins that each person needs on a daily basis. By gaining this knowledge, the author was able to determine from the nutrition facts of each power bowl if they were actually healthy or just a marketing ploy used to attract conspicuous consumers. The author also tested each bowl herself, so she used her own personal opinion and experience to report on the bowls. The data found is both quantitative and quantitative, because there is numeric data and nonnumeric data (like descriptions of taste) to formulate a conclusion. The article lists every power bowl tested, and lists its nutritional information, price, and description of taste.

Overall, I think this research is somewhat valid, but could have tested more power bowls across the market in order to get more accurate results. I think the method of analyzing the nutrition facts and cross-referencing that with an expert’s opinion as well as a personal opinion allowed for semi-accurate conclusions, but also a biased conclusion because taste was only evaluated by the author, not anyone else.

My research topic examines the social, economical, and medical effects of food deserts in low-income communities across the United States. I found a related article to my research question in the Rural Sociological Society Journal. The article, titled Food Deserts and Overweight Schoolchildren: Evidence from Pennsylvania by Kai A. Kraft, Eric B. Jensen, and C. Clare Hinrichs, utilizes Geographic Information System (GIS) in order to identify food desert areas in Pennsylvania. Additionally, it analyzes student body index (BMI) data with census and school-district data to determine the extent to which the percentage of a school district’s population resides within a food desert is positively associated with increased incidence of obesity among students within the district. The type of data the researchers used was demographical and organizational. The data gathering methods they used included gathering information from census bureaus such as the Missouri Census Data Center, National Center for Education Statistics, the BMI data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and from the U.S. Census Bureau. In the first stage, they compared demographic, household, and community characteristics across all rural school districts in Pennsylvania based on food-desert status. The next analysis compared school-district characteristics — including weight status of students — by whether or not the school is located near a food desert. The third stage of the analysis used a multivariate approach to model the relationship between the rates of children overweight and the percentage of a school’s district’s population residing within a food-desert area. By utilizing GIS mapping methods, the researchers were clearly able to see on a map the school districts in comparison with food deserts. By using the demographic census data they were able to see the economic status of people who lived in close range to the food districts. Lastly by using BMI information, they were able to find a correlation between obesity in children, low-income status, and food deserts.

Schafft, Kai A., Eric B. Jensen, and C. Clare Hinrichs. Food Deserts and Overweight Schoolchildren: Evidence from Pennsylvania. Rural Sociology 74, no. 2 (2009): 153-77. doi:10.1111/j.1549-0831.2009.tb00387.x. 

I could not find a written journal that related directly to the causes of homelessness, but I did find an article about housing discrimination amongst woman. The article is titled, “ Searching for Housing as a Battered Woman: Does Discrimination Affect Reported Availability of a Rental Unit?” that came from the journal source “Psychology of Women Quarterly.” The contributing authors are Paula Barata and Donna Stewart.

In this study, they are studying to see if the reports battered women have made about being discriminated from housing is true. It is an issue that has been reported dozens of times, but something that has not been examined or studied fully to determine the causes. Battered women have reported that landlords have denied them housing or wrongfully evicted them for a variety of reasons we assume. It is said that landlords turn them down more so because it is a liability. Having someone who is more likely to have a criminal record, a poor income, children, or an abusive spouse who could show up on the premises is a liability. However, due to the denial this is causing woman (and perhaps their children) to not have affordable, safe, and long-term housing, which eventually leads them to end up homeless. Throughout this study the researchers conducted 2 experiments and 1 survey. This study eventually shows that women who are battered are likely to be discriminated against for housing and that it is a real problem.

The researchers topic is focusing on battered women who have come from a variety of different types of abuse, but all who are trying to find a common goal of safe, affordable housing. They are trying to start a new life, but are having a difficult time since landlords are turning them away. The research question I believe that the researchers are asking is, “Does discrimination affect reported availability of a rental unit?” They are trying to prove whether or not it is a real problem to draw more light on this issue.

The type of data needed to answer this question is to look at the demographic data. The demographic data could help us recognize where most battered women go to find new housing. If they are in a low income area then the landlord probably would not want to have more liability for his residents then he already does. One of the data gathering methods that the researchers used was surveying. They surveyed 31 landlords to determine whether or not they would rent to battered women. They also did a controlled experiment where they had a confederate try to rent from 181 landlords, but had no job and the second experiment the confederate was employed and left a message for 92 landlords. To analyze the data the researchers qualitative analysis to look at the surveys, but also to look at the reports that were filed. They are able to compare the numbers between those landlords who were likely to rent to battered women and those who were not.

The research was researched professionally and ethically. They took a topic that has not been heavily researched before and were able to come to a conclusion about how big of a problem discriminating against battered women is. They used proper methods towards their topic, especially by surveying landlords to gain their opinions. Also by doing the 2 experiments we were able to learn how landlords would act in the situation to gain a true answer. Something that I believe my classmates would find incredibly interesting from this article is some of the responses that landlords gave for saying “no” to renting to battered women. Although a good majority said they would rent to battered women as long as they can pay there were still some who said they would not. Quite a few of the ones who said no, said no because they blamed the battered women for their own situation and that she did something wrong.

Barata, Paula C., and Donna E. Stewart. “Searching for Housing as a Battered Woman: DoesDiscrimination Affect Reported Availability of a Rental Unit?”.” Psychology of Women Quarterly34, no. 1 (March 2010): 43-55.

My research topic is about coral reef survival and the different methods used to by scientists to help the coral survive. It was difficult trying to find a journal article in print about coral reefs. Luckily, in March 2017, Volume 543 of Nature I found an article about coral bleaching and the effects 20 years of it has had on the Great Barrier Reef. Terry P. Hughes and 45 other scientists and professors wrote, “Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals.” This article uses expert knowledge from 46 scientists, while using statistics, aerial and underwater photos and surveys, and heat maps to figure out if their hypothesis that good water quality have a relationship to coral being resistance to bleaching. Unfortunately, the hypothesis had no statistical support. The data on degree heating weeks (DHW) agrees with the statistics. Degree heating weeks are the hottest weeks of the year where in certain locations the heat stress is too much of coral and it starts to bleach. This article focuses on three years; 1998, 2002, and 2016 to show the readers that coral bleaching does not affect individual coral and the bleaching is not a single event. Also, no matter if a community bans fishing, boating, or underwater activities, bleaching will still happen due to increasing temperatures. Bleaching can happen to coral twice in decade and it a world wide catastrophe. The Great Barrier Reef was the location these scientists focused on. Interesting part of this article is section on certain species of coral are better at surviving and recovering from bleaching than other species. The coral species that are able to bounce back quicker are ones that colonize quickly and grow within 10-15 years. This article did a good job at showing its readers how much climate change is affecting coral reefs and the urgency of helping recovering coral through marine parks and better water quality. However, this study was limited to one location, The Great Barrier Reef, and this specific location has been hit hard by climate change. Also, only tells the readers that coral bleaching is caused by climate change, and not solutions on how to slow bleaching down. All the hypothesized solutions that were written about in the article were denounced. Overall, this article was interesting because I couldn’t wrap my head around how to use statistics when discussing coral bleaching. When finding the relationship between degree heating weeks and the percent of coral bleached, a fitted line was found, y=48.6ln(x)-21.6. This article used the data type, reports of acts, behavior and events. The was found via aerial and underwater photos and surveys, and heat maps provided by Geoscience Australia.  

Terry P. Hughes, James T. Kerry, Mariana Alvarez-Noriega, Jorge G. Alvarez-Romero, Kristen D. Anderson, Andrew H. Baird, Russell C. Babcock, Maria Beger, David R. Bellwood, Ray Berkelmans, Tom C. Bridge, Ian R. Butler, Maria Byrne, Neal E. Cantin, Steeve Comeau, Sean R. Connolly, Greame S. Cumming, Steven J. Dalton, Guillermo Diaz-Pulido, C. Mark Eakin, Will F. Figueira, James P. Gilmour, Hugo B. Harrison, Scott F. Heron, Andrew S. Hoey, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, Mia O. Hoogenboom, Emma V. Kennedy, Chao-yang Kuo, Janice M. Lough, Ryan J. Lowe, Gang Liu, Malcolm T. McCulloch, Hamish A. Malcolm, Michael J. McWilliam, John M. Pandolfi, Rachel J. Pears, Morgan S. Pratchett, Verena Schoepf, Tristan Simpson, William J. Skirving, Brigitte Sommer, Gergely Torda, David R. Wachenfeld, Bette L. Willis & Shaun K. Wilson. 2017. “Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of coral.” Nature 543(7645): 373-377.