In the article”Characteristics of Foster Family Applicants Willing to Accept Hard-To-Place Children”, author Mary Ellen Cox delves into the topic of the foster care system in an attempt to address the problem of foster parents often being unwilling to accept such children, a trend which she argues jeopardizes the quality of care available to children searching for foster homes. To approach this problem, Cox designed her research to answer two questions: “what number of foster family applicants are willing to foster hard-to-place children?”, and “what type of applicants are willing to accept these children?”. Cox gathered several types of data, including demographic and organizational, from 153 applicants in pre-service training. Using a combination of questionnaires, interviews, and public and private records, she measured the presence of 11 different foster parent resources, as well as the willingness of applicants to accept different types of hard-to place children, such as abused children, siblings, or deprived children. Following the period of data collection, the author then used a data analysis to obtain results. Cox found a high number of applicants were willing to take hard-to-place children, 2/3 for most types. She also found that the amount of total resources was a good predictor of willingness, as was membership in a place of worship, or race.

As a whole, I thought the project was interesting, and had great merit. I particularly appreciated that Cox thought to look at different catagories of hard to place children, which was backed by the fact that the results often showed differences. For example, the high willingness of applicants to accept most types of these children did not extent to those with a tendency to set fires. The author did not give much detail on the method analysis, which I was dissapointed with, but in general the project was well done, and engaging to read about.

Cox, M. E.Characteristics of foster family applicants willing to accept hard-to-place foster children Available from Social Services Abstracts; Social Services Abstracts. (61464283; 200104915). Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.books.redlands.edu/docview/61464283?accountid=14729

The article “An Econometric Analysis of Donations for Environmental Conservation in Canada” written by Steven T. Yen, Peter C. Boxali, and Wiktor L. A is a piece that looks at how government policy can effect donations towards environmental issues. The question behind this research is “how does the reduction of government funding to environmental conservation programs effect individual/organizational interest?”. This question was asked in response to multiple provincial governments in Canada deciding to do budget reforms and at the time in 1997 environmental concern wasn’t big of a priority when first moving into the twenty-first century.  Which lead these researchers to gather and use empirical data in order answer their question. The method the used to measure the changes from individuals and organizations is called a “double-hurdle econometric model” to chart out their findings. As for how they obtained their findings was through organizational data. This was done by asking multiple donation centers and environmental organizations about the records concerning donations received after the policy change. The article itself is well done and a good resource for how different governmental funding plans can alter peoples willingness to donate or join environmental organizations. It is a little on the older side being produced during 1997 but is well done so it becomes a resource and a marker for the years covered by the study. What I think others would find interesting about this piece is that the involvement of government policy and donations in Canada, these two things would seem to be distinct from one another but are actually deeply interconnected.

www.jstor.org.books.redlands.edu/stable/40986946

In this study the researchers were looking into a type of biological phenomenon in southeast Asia called a general flowering or GF for short. They used most of the space in the journal article discussing the various theories as to why the even occurs in the way it does, as well as why the event doe not happen in other tropical areas around the world. GF is unique, because it can occur over thousands of miles and involve hundreds of plant species representing diverse families and lifeforms. It also involves strict mast fruiting. However, there is still plenty to be learned about this type of phenomena as was stated in the closing line of the abstract, “Long-term monitoring and further understanding of GF are essential for the conservation of this unique and diverse tropical forest in south-east Asia, especially in a period of global climatic change.” (Sakai, 2002)

The general flowering is a large synchronization of plants blooming, including trees, shrubs, and grasses. According to Sakai,  In seasonal environments, synchronization of reproduction among individuals occurs, in part, because a particular season is most favourable for reproduction and the survival of offspring. However, the extent of synchronization is usually much stronger than would be expected from the variability of climatic conditions. And is part of why the GF is such an interesting case, because it appears to happen in response to some combination of triggers, — like a shift in climate, but there is not enough research or knowledge to know what is causing it to happen in one specific area of the world. Though General flowering is a phenomenon unique to lowland dipterocarp forests. These forests are characterized by a high species diversity of trees. The detail that helps to separate the General flowering from other similar phenomena is that not only dipterocarp trees but also many other plant species show flowering patterns that are synchronized with the dipterocarp trees.

In this study Sakai summarizes the previous studies done on this subject and breaks down the findings into a language that is easier to understand as well as put their own research into to further prove what is known and help to explain why this is such an interesting and important phenomenon to study. There was not a clear problem or question that was being investigated in this article, though there were charts and new data used to support already existing hypotheses and show a newer audience what is known about the topic and what still needs to be done.

Sakai, Shoko. “General flowering in lowland mixed dipterocarp forests of South‐east Asia.” Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 75.2 (2002): 233-247.

In the article Literacy Achievement in Small Grade 1 Classes in
High-Poverty Environments, researchers,  Margaret Haughey
Fern Snart and, Jose da Costa, “explored the influence of three interventions on the literacy achievement of grade-1 students in 10 schools in high poverty environments: small class size, a focus on literacy,and teachers’ continuing professional development.” (Haughey, Snart, and Costa 2001, 301).The researchers conducted the study in order to, examine ways in which  to enhance academic
achievement, most importantly in literacy development, for students coming from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. The researchers specifically examined the impact of three
interventions. The interventions included the following: small class size, a focus on literacy,  and continuing professional development – on the growth and achievement of grade-1 students in 10 Edmonton public schools in high-poverty, and high-transiency
environments. The study, lasted from January to June 2000, started with small classes of 15 or fewer students at the grade 1 level in 10 schools,

In order to conduct the study the researchers asked the following questions: Did small classes enhance students’ literacy achievement? How important was teachers’ continuing professional development in enhancing students’ literacy achievement? What was the influence of small classes on teachers’ classroom practices? In order to answer the research question, Haughey, Snart, and Costa used test results, individual interviews with
teachers in their classrooms, and monthly group sessions with the teachers. In order to obtain test scores the researchers pulled from writing tests, which the district annually administers. The tests consists of two measures, a writing component and
a reading comprehension test. The tests are given to every students using what it
calls the Highest Level of Achievement Tests (HLAT).

The researchers analyzed the data by analyzing the interviews,
observations, group meetings, case studies, and instructional  materials. The team then coded and then categorized the transcribed audiotaped data.

The research conducted by this group of researchers will help with the current study by providing the insight from teachers. Teachers are spending the most time with their students and are able to share the experiences they have with each students learning processes and achievement levels.

              This article asks whether increasing corn prices has a higher detrimental effect on the environment than steady prices, specifically if the increase in corn production harms the Gulf of Mexico. They compared the increase in prices with increases in production of corn in Kansas (using satellite images and GIS), and also with the changes of crop rotation from corn to soy to strictly growing corn. They found higher amounts of fertilizers are necessary when growing strictly corn, and this increase in nitrogen triggered an increase in the concentrations of nitrogen in runoff into the Mississippi. This increase in nitrogen subsequently caused an expansion of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico by an average of 30 square Miles. The data needed were acts and events, they needed to know the average increase in prices of corn, the average increases of corn production, the average increases in nitrogen runoff, and the average increase in the hypoxic area of the Gulf of Mexico. They gathered the data in literature reviews, and direct observations in collection of runoff, and analysis the spatial variation in satellite images from the Department of Agriculture. They used comparative analytics, T-Tests and ANOVA tests, to determine the correlation with the increases in prices and the in increase in the hypoxic zone using the data collected as variables. Overall I think it was interesting research, but even the authors stated there was considerable uncertainty in the estimates. They only looked at Kansas, while ignoring other states along the Mississippi. It was too simplified to contribute any real changes in price of corn to the changes in the Gulf. I did however find the use of Satellite Imagery effective, and if they were to include other crops further south of Kansas it may have been far more accurate in the study’s results.

Hendricks, Nathan P., et al. “The Environmental Effects of Crop Price Increases: Nitrogen Losses in the U.S. Corn Belt.” Journal of Environmental Economics & Management, vol. 68, no. 3, Nov. 2014, pp. 507-526. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2014.09.002.

This study focuses on the welfare reform in the mid 1990s, collecting data from 50 states. They seek to find out if representation has an effect on welfare policymaking. The researchers have two hypotheses that are tested with two different approaches. The first hypothesis is a single axis hypothesis, “The greater the incorporation of women in the state legislature, the more generous, accessible, flexible, and lenient the state welfare policy.” They control for all of the Black and Latino legislators. They test this with an additive model and the findings reveal contradictions. The presence and power of all legislators appear to have no impact at all on TANF policies.

However when tested with an intersectional approach we see different results The second hypothesis tests to see the potential impact of three different groups- gender and race/ethnicity: women of color, other “white” women, and men of color. The findings reveal that legislative women of color do play a distinct role in welfare policymaking. When examining TANF cash benefits, white women’s projected cash benefit decreases from $531 to $497 compared to women of color, predicted cash benefits increase from $501 to $527. In conclusion, the intersectional model is crucial in understanding women of color role in welfare policymaking. While the additive model when testing all hides the impact of the state legislator’s gender and race/ethnicity.

Beth Reingold and Adrienne R. Smith, “Welfare Policymaking and Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in U.S. State Legislatures,” American Journal of Political Science 56, no. 1 (2011): , doi:10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00569.x.

This project examined the greenhouse gas emissions associated with various types of food. “Food-miles” refers to how far a product has traveled from its source to the consumer, including through processing stages. Their research question can be summarized as: What are the “GHG emissions associated with the production, transportation, and distribution of food consumed by American households”? The results of this study come from a model that is based on economic demands and the kilometers traveled through chains of custody for various types of food. Data on food demand came from the USDA. The second type of data was obtained from public records from the U.S. Commodity Flow Survey, and roughly converted to carbon dioxide emissions per dollar spent, based on fuels and transportation type used (truck versus ship, for example). Their models yielded results for several aspects of production and consumption, such as the amount of a product consumed per household per year, and the emissions of carbon dioxide per dollar spent. To put it simply, grains, fruits and vegetables were consumed in greater quantities overall, so require more transportation per household, but red meat and dairy products show extremely high emissions per unit consumed. Even though their models made some very broad assumptions concerning nationwide consumption, the results show such intense differences for certain food groups that the researchers concluded that choice in types of food has just as much of a climate impact as choice to buy locally produced food.

Weber, C. L., Mathews, S. (2008). Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States. Environmental science and technology, 10, (42) 3508–3513.             Retrieved at http://mmm.comuv.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Food-       Miles-and-the-relative-impacts-of-food-choices-Weber-and-Matthews-2008.pdf

The article, Age-Related Differences in Achievement Goal Differentiation, by Mimi Bong from Korea University, questioned whether achievement goals differ more in elementary aged children or middle school students. The study examined 1,196 Korean elementary and middle school students’ achievement goals based off of four distinct achievement goal factors. By use of self-reports the researchers gathered information from the elementary and middle school students’ perception of their achievement goals. Once the research was compiled it was found that the achievement goals of young students strongly correlated with one another but, the correlation became increasingly weak as the age of the respondents increased. With that being said, the type of data needed to answer this research question is self-identity, since the researcher only gathered data by self-reports from the students, off of how they describe their achievement goals, which is somewhat of a self-description. Therefore, the data gathering method would be by in-depth interview, since it is more than just a shallow opinion, but the interviews themselves took a lot less time than a typical in-depth interview would. The method of data analysis for this research question would be ordinal, since the students ‘ranked’ their achievement goals based off of the four distinct achievement goal factors given to them by the researcher. I found this research methodology to be very interesting, it seemed to be a lot more informal than I am used to reading about. Therefore, that aspect of it made this research example interesting to me since I have been correlating research solely with formal tactics instead of informal. I believe this would be interesting for the class as a whole as well since the research we look at in class is more formal and this shows that research can be done in a plethora of ways.

Bong, Mimi. (2009). Age-Related Differences in Achievement Goal Differentiation. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 101, No. 4, pp. 879-896.

The article Shoppers Like What They Know written by Peter M. Todd is about everyday shoppers who are influenced with what they purchase from the get-go. This article discusses how the more people buy of a product, and the more often they do so, the more likely them are to continue to buy it and not change to different brands. To study this, researchers examined 283,000 shoppers in the United Kingdom over a period of about two hundred fifty weeks. They focused on purchases of different household items such as beer, bread, coffee, toilet paper, washing detergent, and yogurt. Results showed that these shoppers became less likely to switch to other brands as the time they had been buying one particular product had increased. This pattern was still seen even when there were cost-saving opportunities. Shoppers continuously bought their same brand, even when presented with the option to buy a different one at a lower cost. Shoppers were sticking to what they had known best, even if that meant not taking the most cost-efficient route. Researchers explained that this way of shopping could be easily influenced. They gave the example of when shoppers are “in a hurry” and so they grab the closest item on the shelf. If this is repeated often enough, they will be accustomed to buying this product that was only an impulsive buy in the first place.

For this research, the topic was human behavior in relation to shoppers and their preferences. The research question asked if shoppers’ product choices were affected by how often they continued to purchase that item. To answer this question, the researchers needed acts, behaviors, and events to determine whether or not the amount of times they bought a particular product affected their decisions to purchase a different brand the next time around. To gather this data, researchers used detached observation, and to analyze it, they organized and compared time and likelihood to change brand purchase to determine whether they had any relation to each other.

Overall, I thought this research was well organized and an intriguing one to learn about. It makes you think about your own personal decisions when at the stores and what influences us to what we ultimately decide to purchase.

Todd, Peter M. “Human behaviour: Shoppers like what they know.” Nature 541.7637 (2017): 294-95. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

Engber, Eamon A.,  J.M. Varner, III, Leonel A. Arguello, and Neil G. Sugihara

A study conducted in the Bald Hills of Redwood National Park, California, USA, looked at the influence of overstory structure on fire intensity and fuels in oak dominated woodlands and savannas. Three sites that were prioritized for prescribed burns in 2008 and 2009 were the burn sites for the study. Site one had been burned five times since 1991, while sites two and three had been burned three times since then. It is important to note that grazing has also taken place on this land, sites one and two were grazed up until 1980, and site three was grazed until the year 1991, the year that particular site was added to Redwood National Park. Burn units were systematically split up into five categories of grassland, oak savanna, oak cluster, oak woodland, and invaded woodland based on their probable fuel structure and composition. Plots were then randomly selected for analysis. Fuels were sampled in four grades of leaf litter, woody material, combined live and dead herbaceous material, and shrub surface fuels.

Sampling of sites one and two were done in August of 2008, while sampling for site three was done in August of 2009. No sites were re-sampled. Prescribed burns were administered by Redwood National Park managers in the autumn of 2008. Sites one and two were burned in the autumn of 2008, however site three, which was scheduled to be burned in the autumn of 2009, could not be burned due to poor weather conditions.

Data needed for this study was behavioral because the forest ecologists were determining how encroachment of conifers affected the forest floor. This is just observing the tree’s behavior. Data was analyzed by running ANOVA tests on all of the different elements of the study. The largest differences in fuelbed were between grasslands and invaded woodlands, at opposite ends of the spectrum. Grasslands had heavier herbaceous mass and lower fuel moisture, while invaded woodlands were just the opposite. The invaded woodland sites had much more woody fuel, and lower herbaceous mass, resulting in lower community flammability. This suggests greater overstory shading and development of forest floors with denser woody material is somewhat responsible for less frequent fire.
Engber, Eamon A.,  J.M. Varner, III, Leonel A. Arguello, and Neil G. Sugihara. “The Effects of Conifer Encroachment and Overstory Structure on Fuels and Fire in an Oak Woodland Landscape.” Fire Ecology 7.2 (2011): 32-50. Agricola. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.