The author of this article, Alan S. Waterman, from Trenton State College, goes over people’s development of their identities and how and why they may try and change it over the course of their journey into adulthood. The foundation of the theory he is looking at is E.H. Erikson’s and then using a number of other research projects done to build off of Erikson’s findings. The author discusses the ideas and findings of when one’s identity will begin to change and the hypothesis that over time people’s progressive shifts as they get older will bring them to start thinking of what beliefs, social status, etc., that they want to commit themselves to. The piece focuses on the direction, timing of identity development, sex differences, and the identification of antecedent conditions that may have influenced the developmental pathways.

The overall topic of the article is the developmental process of one’s identity as they reach adulthood, but the question posed in it is whether or not the transition into adulthood involves a progressive strengthening in the sense of identity. Waterman is looking at whether or not direction, timing, sex, and antecedent conditions that perhaps have a hand in effecting the progression of one’s identity as they come into adulthood; to do this he gathered several studies together and in the way of meta-analysis he looked at shallow opinions & attitudes as well as deeply held opinions & attitudes (survey’s and in-depth interviews). This data was of previously done research so the author would have gotten this information from public records, then to analyze this data he would have used thematic analysis which allows him to find any themes raised in the set of texts, interview transcripts, etc.

The research was at times a bit hard to follow because of the intricate wording of the author but the overall points that he was making in each section came through and was very insightful. Something that I found quite interesting was when Waterman went over the idea that if one is given a greater range of identity alternatives in their childhood the more likely that person will undergo an identity crisis which before I may have thought the opposite.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan_Waterman2/publication/232489351_Identity_development_from_adolescence_to_adulthood_An_extension_of_theory_and_a_review_of_research/links/0fcfd50c25968422e2000000/Identity-development-from-adolescence-to-adulthood-An-extension-of-theory-and-a-review-of-research.pdf

Low-Income Immigrant Pupils Learning Vocabulary Through Digital Picture Storybooks by Marian Verhallen and Adriana Bus from Leiden University examined whether digital picture storybooks could help low-income children learn the proper amount of vocabulary prior to beginning school, lessening the chances of them developing reading difficulties. Since that often happens to children who start school with a much lower vocabulary than their classmates. In this study, the researchers examined the effects of the video storybooks on 92 five year old children, whom they repeatedly exposed to the digital storybook. After the study, it was found that the storybooks were helpful in teaching children vocabulary words, helping lessen their chances of developing reading difficulties. The type of data needed for such a research question would be acts, behavior or events since the children’s reading abilities were directly observed by the researchers. Therefore, the data-gathering method for such data would be detached observation. While the method of data analysis would be ordinal since the children’s vocabularies were ranked after the research concluded. I found this to be a very interesting research question, I never thought digital picture storybooks could help to improve children’s vocabulary so much, but it is a very innovative and easy way to expand children’s vocabulary at a young age, which I believe my classmates would find interesting as well.

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

In this study a group of researchers were trying to find a mechanism or cause behind the effects of increased nitrogen disposition on fauna diversity. The researchers specified that  there had been plenty of studies done on correlational relationships between the N deposition and soil acidification and the growth of plants like algae, but there wasn’t very much on the mechanisms causing the changes in those ecosystems in any part of ecosystem ecology. But, even with their own evidence gathered from various effected an less effected areas of increased nitrogen, there was still not enough to come to a conclusion, so more studies will need to be conducted. Though they did find six mainly indirect bottlenecks that my be behind some of the mechanism behind the changes in the ecosystems due to increased nitrogen deposition.

The six bottlenecks discussed and investigated in the study were: chemical stress, a leveled and humid microclimate, decrease in reproductive habitat, changes in food plant quantity, changes in nutritional quality of food plants and changes in availability of prey or host species due to effects in the food web. The researchers found that depending on species and habitat type, different pathways play a dominant role and interference between different pathways can strengthen or weaken the net effect of Nitrogen deposition.

The research problem discussed in this piece of research was why the fauna were reacting to changes in Nitrogen deposition differently and what the driving force was. And which of the possible bottlenecks was the most prominent. The data type was most likely detached observation reports of past research on related or similar topics  Though this study did not include vary many tables or numbers for their paper, which could mean that the study was not as thorough as it could have been, but the researchers did say that  all bottlenecks were supported by peer reviewed literature, scientific evidence on the causal relationship between increased N deposition and effects on fauna in the complete causal chain was insufficient and that further research was needed. The biggest gap in knowledge  were about subtle changes in plant chemistry and changes in availability of prey and host species to higher trophic levels.

Nijssen, M. E., M. F. WallisDeVries, and H. Siepel. “Pathways for the effects of increased nitrogen deposition on fauna.” Biological Conservation(2017).

In order to figure out a new trend you have to look at the other ways trends about your topic have been analyzed. Since my research question has to do with donations looking at articles that focus on what factors may determine what effects peoples willingness to donate. In the journal “The Canadian Journal of Economics” there is an article titled  “Economic determinants of individual charitable donations in Canada” written by  R. D. Hood, S. A. Martin and L. S. Osberg.  As the title of the article mentions the topic of this research is an in-depth study of the variables that effect individual charitable donations. Mainly the economic variables because one of the major more common ideologies about donating is that what constitutes as a “good” donation is seemingly a percentage of your total income. Which brings up many questions about the psychological, social, or economics aspects of donating,  but the question this research study decided to handle is “how would tax reforms effect charitable donations in Canada”. To answer this question the researchers gathered people’s opinions about donations and how tax reforms may or may not encourage more individual charitable donations. To define the general theories behind donating. And empirical data to make note on trends using qualitative analysis because in the end goal is to make predictions about how tax reforms will alter individual donations. Overall I think this a well done research study though it tackles something a little more abstract than the previous ones I’ve looked at. What I think others will find interesting about the this article is how in Canada taxes can play a big role in someones decision to make a donation whereas in the United States it’s most likely very different.

http://0-www.jstor.org.books.redlands.edu/stable/134296

Taylor is testing three hypothesis. First, to see individuals who view sexual television content will have more permissive sexual attitudes and beliefs than individuals who do not. Secondly, testing to see if individuals who view sexual television content as realistic are more likely to have sexual attitudes and beliefs than those who view them to be less realistic. Lastly, Taylor is testing to see if individuals who read sexual television content will have more permissive sexual attitudes and beliefs than whose who view similar behaviors visually. Taylor does this through 188 undergraduates who are taking an introductory communications courses. They were then divided into two control groups and an experimental group. The experimental group received stimulus materials, whether watched or read, randomly. The first control group received paragraphs from magazines and the second received nonsexual television content. After viewing, participants were asked to measure sexual attitudes and beliefs in a survey. To test sexual attitudes and beliefs, Taylor used a Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale. This includes a five-item measure of statements that include sexual intercourse on the first date, casually dating, serious dating, and so on. Sexual beliefs were measured by asking to estimate how many males and females were sexually active. When viewing clips, they were asked to indicate on a scale from one to five (five being realistic). For the first hypothesis, it was found that there was no significant difference between sexually permissive attitudes, estimates of sexually active male peers or female peers. For the second hypothesis, there was a difference between different kinds of sexual content and how realistic it is. Lastly, viewing had an effect on sexual beliefs with those with are higher in perceived realism. An interesting find was that gender played a major affect on beliefs about a females sexual activity.

Taylor, Laramie D. 2005. “Effects of Visual and Verbal Sexual Television Content and Perceived Realism on Attitudes and Beliefs”. The Journal of Sex Research (42) (2).Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 130-137.

In the article “Conditions for Effective Children’s Participation, According to Children’s Voices”, the authors investigate the conditions that children’s participation in different settings, such as school, leisure, or student council, should fulfill. The multiple case study, spanning 6 different educational experiences, used information provided by children to developed 3 main categories found to make child participation more meaningful and authentic. These catagories were: 1) acknowledgement of the rights of childhood, 2) how the participation-based experience works, and 3) the role of educators.

To delve into their topic of child participation, the researchers focused on the question: “what conditions must be gaurunteed by children’s participation experiences in  order to be effective from the standpoint of the children participating in them?”. In order to answer this query, the authors collected data consisting primarily of the opinions and attitudes of children. This was done using focus groups of children ages 10 to 12 who were involved in the experiences. Then, the data was analyzed through the process of organizing it, coding it, and then using the process of data triangulation with the catagories of school, leisure, and community to obtain results. Interestingly, the results obtained from asking children their thoughts were similar to the results obtained by other projects on the same topic which did not do so.

I found the research project to be interesting and well done. I appreciated the idea behind the project as well, I feel that asking those involved in such participatory experiences about their ideas is a vital part of improving any such experiences. I also appreciated the attention to minimizing the range of the project age-wise, and by selecting equal numbers of each gender of participant, so as to ensure a better set of results. My only complaint is that the authors indicated they chose groups with shared cultural and social values, which I fear may have limited the range of the study too much, so that it might not be applicable to a broader range of individuals. Otherwise, I found the article to be engaging and the research to be commendable.

AGUD, I., Ana María, N. C., & Asun, L. B. (2014). Conditions for effective children’s participation, according to children’s voices. Revista De Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 46, 9-21. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.books.redlands.edu/docview/1665217576?accountid=14729

In the article Raising Achievement Test Scores of Early Elementary School Students Through Comprehensive School Counseling Programs, Christopher Sink makes the argument that, “, elementary and secondary schools have not been immune to the accelerating pace of societal evolution (e.g., socio-technological  advances or
changes in the family structure)”. There fore in this study he seeks out to answer the following broad research question: Does school counselors’ work in elementary schools with well established  CSCPs promote  higher  academic achievement in students? Because the question is rather broad the research created a list of alternative hypotheses to respond to the question posed. The hypotheses are as followed: (1) After accounting for SES differences, third and fourth grade students enrolled in elementary schools with a CSCP will significantly out perform those  children who were attending schools with no systemic guidance and counseling program on various formal measures of academic achievement ; (2) After accounting  for  SES differences,  third  and fourth grade students enrolled continuously in elementary schools with at least  5 years of CSCP implementation will significantly  out perform those children who were attending schools with no systemic guidance and counseling program on various formal measures of academic achievement; (3) After accounting for student differences in SES, there are significant  gender differences  across achievement domains in  schools with or without a well-established CSCP.

Sink was able to answer his research question by telephone surveying 150 randomly selected public schools in Washington State. Of the total population of the school 39% of students enrolled were eligible for U.S. Government financial assistance. Thirty one of the school surveyed did not have a educated counselor on staff.

Once the surveys were conducted they were coded and tabulated. Once data was coded the numerical data was analyzed for normality’s. Sink’s hypotheses were tested using a general linear model. The independent variables used consisted of length of enrollment, groups, and gender. Student ITBS, and WASL achievement test scores were used for dependent variable.

This study is helpful for the current study at hand, because it offers perspective and work done towards having sources within the school for students who may be struggling. Hence I found this article to be very beneficial, and offered great insight in the results section.

The image of the Welfare Queen has played a prominent role in the public discourse of welfare which in turn shapes public opinion. This demonstrates the politics of disgust, the Welfare Queen was used to categorize all welfare recipients as “lazy.” Our past president Ronald Reagan described women having countless children to collect many checks and that they would trade food stamps for cigarettes and alcohol. The gendered racism that recipients of welfare have to face were overall attributed to their own personal failures rather than the structural flaws of the market. It is no coincidence that 90% of welfare recipients are single mothers. The overall study demonstrates that there is an intersection of race, gender, class on public opinion on welfare.

The data was taken from two public opinion surveys, the “Poverty in America” survey conducted by National Public Radio, Kaiser Family Foundation and the Kennedy School of Government, and the “Race and Politics” survey conducted by the Survey Research Center at UC Berkeley.  Logistic regression models were used to analyze the data, as well as Beta to determine the strength of relationship in the variables from the Poverty in America survey. In the National Race and Politics Survey they asked “experimental questions in which a hypothetical welfare mother with a 10 year old child is described to half of the respondents as a black woman, and to the other half of the respondents as a white woman. Respondents are then asked to predict how likely it is that this racially defined hypothetical welfare mother will “try hard to find a job in next year” and how likely it is that she will “have another child to get a bigger welfare check.”  The findings revealed that 54% believed that welfare recipients do not try very hard to find work and 61% thought mothers had children for financial gain. The respondents opinions are influenced by race, gender, and class. Overall, the public opinion of the Welfare Queen shapes their views on welfare.

Foster, C. H. (2008). THE WELFARE QUEEN: RACE, GENDER, CLASS, AND PUBLIC OPINION. Race, Gender & Class, 15(3), 162-179. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.books.redlands.edu/docview/218869573?accountid=14729

The purpose of this research was to find what types of food markets are available in three communities, and the quality of the food provided at these locations. The study areas were chosen based on their demographic representation of income and race in Los Angeles. The data collection was fairly simple, consisting of recording where any sources of food were located, and what type of source, such as a supermarket, convenience store, fast food outlet, sit-down restaurant, food truck etc. At relevant locations, they also recorded what specific foods were available, which they hose from a USDA list of “low cost and healthy foods,” called the Thrifty Food Plan. They also conducted a couple of focus group interviews to gain some insight to the experiences of residents of the study areas. The data analysis was just descriptive. The article’s background description established that supermarkets are the best source of healthy foods that re preventative of obesity-related health problems, but they found that supermarkets made up less than two percent of the available food sources in these areas. Additionally, supermarkets were found to have 100% of the foods listed on the Thrifty Food Plan, while convenience stores (which were second most common after fast food), were found to have around half of these items, but always carried low-nutrition snack foods. They found in their focus groups that there are several barriers to getting healthy food, mainly cost and distance, so the interviewees mostly ate fast food. They conclude that food access is, indeed, “a problem in urban Los Angeles.”

Azuma, A. M., Gilliland, S., Vallianatos, M., Gottlieb, R. (2010). Food Access, Availability, and Affordability in 3 Los Angeles Communities, Project CAFE, 2004-2006. Preventing chronic disease: Public health research, practice and policy, 7 (2). Retrieved at http://scholar.oxy.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=uep_faculty

This article focused on pesticide use in the Central Valley of California. The specific question examined how estrogenic compounds, from the degradation of pesticides over time, travel through groundwater or runoff into rivers and aquifers. Estrogenic compounds are known to cause cancer and mutations in organisms, from alligators to water fowl, and there presence in water is of major concern. This study collected samples from various areas of runoff and infiltration into groundwater, through satellite images and data from the California Integrated Pest Management Program. Once they had their samples they ran t-tests to see the correlation with distance from farm runoff and spray areas to see if there was a correlation, which there was. The data needed was action and events for both the amount of pesticides used and where as well as the collection of water samples both contaminated and uncontaminated. Their collection method was simple observation. The analysis was correlational and a simple T-test was used. Overall I think the research was a good examination into the effects of pesticide use, however by only sampling waters close to surface they may have underestimated the amounts of estrogenic compounds in the water. The most interesting piece of information from this article is the fact that the degradation of pesticides doesn’t remove its damaging effects to the environment, but almost makes it worse, as estrogenic compounds.

Johnson, M. L.; Salveson, A.; Holmes, L.; Denison, M. S.; Fry, D. M. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology. Apr98, Vol. 60 Issue 4, p609-614. 6p. Web. March 24 2017. <http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.books.redlands.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=14&sid=2a064c2e-00ca-438c-9218-25fda37290db%40sessionmgr4010&hid=4204 >