The field of sociology has quite the amount of subsections where people can just dedicate their time and effort into studying. The article “Donation Behavior toward In-Groups and Out-Groups: The Role of Gender and Moral Identity” by Karen Page Winterich, Vikas Mittal, and William T. Ross JR. is one such study. The premise of this article is to investigate some important two social identities one being gender and the other being moral. From what is present in the title and abstract the research question for this study could be “Does gender and moral identity influence donation behaviors between in-groups and out-groups”. The type of data for this study is simply identities and reports of actions. These two data types are needed because without both of them they could never come to a conclusion. The data gathering method for each study was done via survey in various locations. After all the separate studies were finished a qualitative analysis was carried out over the aggregated survey data using cross tabs to see if there was any significance to their findings. Overall I think this is a really good piece just in terms of seeing how a multi-study research study should carried out. Besides that it goes to show that even just the topic of donations have a lot of studies that could done because this study just does gender and moral identities so it could easily be expanded to other identities like region, age, or race. What I think others might find interesting about this study is that when giving out surveys your actually able to control for biases naturally wording the questions of the survey differently.

Link to article:  http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.569.642&rep=rep1&type=pdf

The article “Does the government crowd-out private donations? New evidence from a sample of non-profit firms” published in the Journal of Public Economics 69. Is written by Abigail Payne  who is a professor in the Department of Economics from the University of Toronto. The research question in this piece is clearly stated i the the article “does the government crowd-out private donations?”.  This premise of the research starts back in the 1980’s when the Canadian government started to reduce the number of grants given to non-profit organizations. However since government grants and private donations are the only way non-profits are able to generate revenue with either or being a large component of the revenue suddenly being removed can cause a dramatic shift in how a non-profit markets themselves. The data needed to solver this kind of question is organizational data because each non-profit is going to handle donations in a way so you’d have to ask each organization to get access to the data of the donation and grant money. The gathering method behind this research is reports of actions, the specific action being money donated via individual or grants from the government. This is a very interesting piece because many of the other research studies I’ve looked at have all been based in Canada. So those who are interested in governmental impact on non-profits should look into this.

Link to Article: http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkbrueck/course%20readings/Econ%20272B%20readings/payne.pdf

Author: Greg Scott

Title: ‘It’s a sucker’s outfit’: How urban gangs enable and impede the reintegration of ex-convicts

This scholarly journal is looking at how gangs affects ex-gang member’s life after they have been released from jail and gone back to their neighborhoods. So, I would say that the research question is “how do drug-dealing gangs shape the pre- and post-carceral lives of male ex-convicts in Chicago”. The type of data needed for this research is Acts, Behavior, and Events. The author wants to see what these ex-convicts do after they come out of jail. So, the look at their acts, behaviors, and any event that is going on. Given that the data collection method the author used was an Ethnography. He conducted 18 ethnographies with former and gang affiliates. But he also conducted an additional 85 interviews. The method for data analysis is qualitative. The act, behaviors, and events where described in words therefore make the information qualitative. The results of this study were that these ex-convicts where being exploited on both sides of the end. They faced poverty and institutionalized racism so they would join a gang and once they were inside they realized that the gang was just as exploitative as the mainstream institutions. This is great for my project because it gives me another perspective on what I can look at when I do my project. This is a new possibility on why people leave gangs because they are being exploited and I had never thought about that and will further investigate the exploitation.

As of 2006, pregnancy rates and STDs were very high, despite the general decline in teen pregnancy in the United States. In other developed countries, teen pregnancies were much lower than those of the U.S, although STD contraction remained a growing problem. The study discussed in this article was performed in all 83 countries with youth up to the age of 25, in order to see the effectiveness of HIV and Sex Education programs on youth behavior and on pregnancy and STD contraction rates. This research project collected studies that had already been performed on the same topic and analyzed them. The studies had to be published after 1991, have a experimental or quasi-experimental design, with sample sizes that were at least over a 100, and measured the impact of sex education and HIV education on sexual behaviors. These studies were analyzed and effects on behavior were only considered significant if the P<.05.

A three step process was used to identify common characteristics of programs that effected behavior. The first was to generate a list of potentially important characteristics, the second to generate a list of common curriculum content, which were then coded  and used for the third, which was the determination of the process of designing and implementing the effective curricula. The results were as follows: “52% [of effective programs] focused on preventing only STD/HIV, 31% focused on preventing both STD/HIV and pregnancy, and 17% focused only on teen pregnancy . . . Only 7% of the programs were abstinence-only programs. All of these were in the United States . . . More than four fifths of the programs (83%) identified one or more theories that formed the basis for their programs, and often specified particular psychosocial mediating factors to be changed. Social learning theory and its sequel, social cognitive theory, formed the basis for more than half (54%) of the interventions. Related theories identifying some of the same mediating factors were mentioned by substantial percentages of other studies: theory of reasoned action (19%); health belief model (12%); theory of planned behavior (10%); and the information, motivation, and behavioral skills model (10%). Nearly all (90%) of the interventions included at least two different interactive activities designed to involve youth and help them personalize the information (e.g., role playing, simulations or individual worksheets that applied lessons to their lives). Finally, at least 90% of the programs trained their educators before the educators implemented curriculum activities.”

Overall the studies showed that education systems that incorporated sex education and HIV prevention curriculum into the lesson plans for youth had positive behavior outcomes rather than negative ones. It was found that an individual program could many times have the capacity to decrease sexual activity in teens while increase the use of condoms and contraceptives in regards to youth’s sexual activity. The results were consistent in developed and developing countries, with low income and middle income youth, with urban and rural  youth, with boys and girls, and with different age groups.

The article includes a table, that was very useful for my own research into California sex education curriculum, into the subjects broached in successful sex education programs.

Kirby, D., Rolleri, L. 2007, “Sex and HIV Education Programs: Their Impact on Sexual Behaviors of Young People Throughout the World.” Journal of Adolescent Health (40). 206-217.

In the aftermath of a big disaster-natural or human made- that displaces and effects thousands, sometimes millions of people there is an initial reaction to help any way possible. There are lives that have been changed forever. These people just want to be consoled and be told that everything is going to be alright, even that might not be true. And professional sports and their athletes have the ability to be there for these people and help bring up their spirits. In the article “Sport and disaster relief: A content analysis” the authors discuss how pro sports aside from financial donations provide support through a myriad of ways. Obviously monetary gifts are nice and needed, especially in the wake of disaster. They “further assisted in providing needed resources for disaster victims through public service announcements and allow their stadiums to be used as a temporary shelter” (Inoue, Harvard 361) for the locals affected which almost seems to mean more than a financial gift. It’s also nice having the presence and support from a professional organization or individual athlete. They provide emotional support and can have a one on one conversation and bring a smile and love to the victims of these tragedies who might be struggling to cope with what is happening. Visits from athletes and teams following tragedy can help “build goodwill with its consumers” (364)-its fans. The interactions of professional athletic organizations not only puts their brand out there, but more likely than not its “consumers develop positive attitudes” (364) towards these teams and the athlete(s) they encountered. So it’s a win-win for everyone involved. And in general I just think it’s nice to see pro athletes out and about in the community and helping any way they can. It’s a reminder that they aren’t just athletes but also people.

Inoue, Yuhei; Harvard, T. Cody 2015. “Sport and disaster relief: a content analysis”. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. 24(3): 355-368. Accessed April 2nd, 2017.  doi: http://0-search.proquest.com.books.redlands.edu/docview/1690997682?accountid=14729

Continental Wind Patterns Associated with Colorado Alpine Dust Deposition: An Application of the BLM/USFS RAWS Network

Morgan Phillips Colorado Climate Center Colorado State University/Bureau of Land Management

Nolan Doesken Colorado Climate Center Colorado State University

The purpose of this study was not to look at the impacts of dust deposition on snow but instead sought a better understanding of the sources and the climatological patterns associated with the generation of a dust event. The motivation for this research was to determine the mechanisms that cause dust events in order to protect scarce water resources of the western United States. The 2008-2009 season had high numbers of alpine dust deposition events so it was used as a use case for determining the locations and environmental parameters needed to produce years high with dust deposition. The study used data from the BLM/USFS Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) network in the southwestern U.S. to determine wind patterns. The Raw network has been recording interval/ ratio data for approaching 30 years, in 2011, so it can begin to answer climate questions. Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT), an atmospheric trajectory model, along with satellite imagery was used to determine the origin of the sediment being deposited on alpine regions primarily along the Continental Divide in Northern Colorado and the San Juan Mountains in Southwestern Colorado. Using this model back trajectories were generated that used the deposition location to show that the dust could have originated in Northern Arizona/ the Southern Colorado Plateau. The article concluded that for a dust storm to generate and deposit snow in the alpine regions of Colorado wind with a daily mean speed of 15 and daily maximum gusts of 44 mph in a southwesterly direction was required. A linear regression analysis showed a correlation between the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and the frequency of these types of high wind periods in the RAWS database. This correlation was determined to be 0.46 for daily mean wind speeds and 0.56 for maximum daily wind gusts during the months of December through April (Phillips, 2011). The 2008-2009 year ranked above the 20-year average in terms of the number of days with high winds but it was not a year with the single highest wind speed so this suggests that other factors, alongside high winds, control dust transport and deposition.

This article showed me the RAWS data set which will be important in adding wind as a controlling variable for years of high avalanche deaths. The RAWS data set is continuously expanding so trends can be further examined and refined. The article also demonstrated the connection between years of high dust deposition and the SOI which I will use to see if the pattern is repeating. The connections between ENSO and dust deposition was not fully developed in the article in terms of attributing direct conclusions about how dust deposition is affected by ENSO however it is clear that a relationship exists. ENSO has impacts further than just wind so it should be investigated in my research to determine if changes in precipitation, generating a drier Arizona/ Southern Colorado Plateau, or changes in temperature influence the generation of dust events. The difficulty with this is that the ENSO does not occur in a linear pattern and thus years that have been labeled as ENSO years will have to be investigated case by case basis in order to determine trends that occur during ENSO years. However, even with that information, ENSO can act in different ways year to year adding to the complexity of making claims about trends impacted by ENSO.

Phillips, M., & Doesken, N. (2011). Continental Wind Patterns Associated with Colorado Alpine Dust Deposition: An Application of the BLM/USFS RAWS Network. Journal of Service Climatology,5(2), 1-11. Retrieved April 2, 2017.

The study uses content analysis research technique to find parenting behaviors in family-oriented, prime-time television programs.  To collect data for the study a sample family-oriented prime-time television programs were selected, videotaped, and coded, using a technique that groups clips together.  The population for the study included all family-orientated television series.  Prime-time television included between 7:00 and 10:00 pm.  The study uses the coding units instrumental, expressive, neutral, authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, neutral, positive, and negative.  The results of the study were that the demographics of the families observed in the television programs being coded include seventeen dual parent families, twelve single parent female-headed families, twenty single parent male headed families, and eight ‘other’ family types.  Overall, the study found about twenty parenting behaviors were observed per program and thirty per hour of programming.  The study also found that more male parental role expressions were observed than were female expressions.  More child responses occurred when there was an interaction between a father and child than a mother and child.  There was no significant difference found in the children’s responses to fathers due to the parental role that fathers have. The study did find a difference when it was the mother.  The study shows that there is proof that television is a major source of messages about life.  An interesting fact is that the study found a large number of single parent male headed households being presented on television.

Dail Paula W. and Wendy L. Way. 1985. “What Do Parents Observe about Parenting from Prime Time Television” Family Relations(34)(4) National Council on Family Relations. 491-499. 

This article highlights the effects of rapid economic and urban growth in Shanghai. The authors describe China’s recent urban explosion and its effects on the domestic economy and surrounding environment. Increased urbanization and domestic output have obviously led to higher rates of air pollution, but environmental degradation is also attributable to water pollution, climate change, and natural vegetation loss. The authors choose Shanghai as the unit of analysis, describing it as China’s “largest and most modern city.” To describe these ecological consequences, the authors choose water, soil, climate, biodiversity, and land coverage as the units of observation. Land-coverage data was collected through satellite imaging and analyzed using specific software. To collect data on air and water quality, the authors found concentrations of different particulate polluters over a 20-year period and compared them with rural/urban areas. This data was collected from the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau. They collected climate data from local meteorological stations in the Shanghai region, specifically the difference in average temperatures. The Shanghai Agriculture and Forestry Bureau provided some of the data on biodiversity, and the authors drew data from contributing scholarly sources as well. The data was compiled and analyzed in different ways, providing a meta-analysis for the overarching research topic. The authors note the socioeconomic dangers of China’s rapid urban growth, but also underline the related environmental factors. Shanghai institutions have attempted to curb the issues by implementing policies since 1990 restricting human-related degradation. This research was interesting because it drew from a variety of resources, from scholarly literature to local databases and satellite imagery, to provide a holistic and encompassing response to the research question. The meta-analysis method seems like a good idea for large-scale environmental studies, where numerous factors are relevant in determining level of degradation and proper policy measures to counteract it.

Zhao, Shuqing, Liangjun Da, Zhiyao Tang, Hejun Fang, Kun Song, and Jingyun Fang. “Ecological consequences of rapid urban expansion: Shanghai, China.” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4, no. 7 (September 1, 2006): 341-46. Accessed April 2, 2017. doi:10.1890/1540-9295(2006)004[0341:ecorue]2.0.co;2.

In this article by Eeva Kallio and Anna-Mija Pirttila-Backman, the researchers focus on a collection of research done on adult development in Europe. The article does go over a few different viewpoints including the neo-Piagetian perspectives and the Vygotskian approach to learning. Some of the issues the article covers is how people nowadays are responding to our shifting and complex way of life, how life events affect our well-being and how we think and perceive things; it talks about researcher’s insight into adult cognition, and different “domains” of life, our cognitive, social, and personality domains.

The topic of this piece is the development in adulthood, more specifically this article seems to be looking into different research projects that go over what is affecting adults’ cognition, scientific thinking, and how they are responding to societal/personal strains on their everyday life. To glean information, they use a meta-analysis approach, gathering numerous studies of previously done as well as ongoing research on this topic but each looking at it from different angles. The authors data then would be reports of acts, behaviors, and events, to get this data they would have gotten the reports from public records. To analyze this data they would have used qualitative data analysis to better understand and interpret the information assembled.

This article wasn’t as in-depth as some of the others that I have come across but I thought it was very clear and the topics of research that they went over in the piece was very interesting and were all research pieces I would be very interested in reading myself. Something that I thought was interesting to think about was the relationship between the structure of thinking and the content of thinking, which is the subject of one of the researchers mentioned in the article, Ms. Anna Kajanne. This is a subject I hadn’t ever thought of and I’m quite sure it would be an interesting read.

Kallio, E., & Pirttilä-Backman, A.-M. (2003). Developmental processes in Adulthood – European Research Perspectives. Journal of Adult Development, 10 (3), 135-138. doi:10.1023/A:1023426028821

https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/49701/developmentalprocessesinadulthoode.pdf?sequence=1

The last study, completed by Russell Rumberger at the University of California Santa Barbara, approaches the topic of high school dropout rates from two different frameworks. Unlike the previous studies, this study addresses the topic of dropouts both from the individual and from the institutional level. These levels are addressed through the two different frameworks. The first framework is based on individual perspective and focuses on the individual factors associated with dropping out such as student engagement, student achievement and student’s background. He shows us that each of these factors play a role in this dropout trend and demonstrates this to us through previously acquired data.

The second framework is from the institutional perspective. “While the first framework can provide a way to understand dropping out from an individual perspective, individual attitudes and behaviors are shaped by the institutional settings where people live.” He gives examples of institutional factors such as family factors, school factors and community and peer related factors. This second framework is more closely related to my research project than the latter because it focuses on the surrounding environmental and institutional such as family, school and community factors[3]. For example, He points out specifically “Research has consistently found that socioeconomic status, most commonly measured by parental education and income, is a powerful predictor of school achievement and dropout behavior.” He describes how each one of the factors connects with the dropout rate, but what he is missing is the large-scale correlation. In this study he states all of the many factors and their connections with this topic, but they have not run all of these factors together to see in fact how strong these correlations actually are. I would also critique this study in that in relation to today’s data it is almost 20 years old. Though this study was likely relevant around the time of its publication, there is a possibility that the data has shifted, causing it to be less accurate.

This research was particularly interesting because it pointed out not only the impact on the indviduals who dropped out but also the individuals effect on the economy as well. “dropouts cost the nation money in other ways as well. Research demonstrates that dropouts are also more likely to have health problems, engage in criminal activities, and become dependent on welfare and other government programs than high school graduates.” We tend to ignore the the outside effects that dropping out of high school has on society, but in fact it does effect much more than just the individual.

http://escholarship.org/uc/item/58p2c3wp#page-1