The article I chose examines the various foods and preparation of foods of Native American Populations in North America. It focuses on major types of produce (not including hundreds if not thousands of other minor more local varieties of foods) like corn, potatoes, new varieties of beans and squashes, peppers and tomatoes, and many other foods. Their topic is on ethnobotony of Native Americans, but the question focuses on diets and dietary culture of the indigenous North American inhabitants as well as discussing the nutritional quality of those diets and the contributions they make to the diets of all people. The data type necessary was reports of acts, looking at how Native Americans currently employ ethnobotany. There were also acts and events, such as the nutritional content of certain foods. Ethnographies and observation were used to collect the data for ethnobotany and nutrition. The method of analysis for nutrition was cross tabulations, checking how certain foods compared to each other. Overall the research was awesome, and gives lots of information on various aspects of the Native American diet that could be super useful in translating over to our current agricultural practices. I found it to be super awesome that they included recipes, although I am biased because I love cooking,

Park, Sunmin, et al. “Native American foods: History, culture, and influence on modern diets”. Journal of Ethnic Foods 3(3). (September 2016), 171–177. Science Direct. Web. 15 Feb. 2017. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618116300750>

Habitat destruction has forced many species that were once neighbors in their natural habitats to move into much smaller and unfamiliar territory. Habitat loss and fragmentation are two major threats to biodiversity around the world. The structure for the conservation of fragmented populations is established on the principles of Island biography. This idea of Island biography is focused on a species composition and richness on an Island habitat and aims at understanding and explaining the factors effecting the species diversity. Despite several decades of conducted research, researchers have not yet proven that patch areas can predict a species occupancy in fragmented areas do to lack of quantitative synthesis. In this scholarly article, data from 1,015 bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, and invertebrate population networks was collected on 6 continents. The surprising results showed that patch area and isolation are poor predictors of occupancy for most of the listed species. Researchers examined improper scaling and biases in the species delineation and seek to find proof that the type of land cover that separates patches mostly effects the sensitivity of species to patch area and isolation.  The results of the research indicated that the patch area and isolation are important factors that effect the occupancy of several species.

Researchers maximized the size, accuracy, and standardization of their datasets by directly collecting raw data from authors and conducting their own statistical analyses. Studies were also found by a complete search using the Web of Science (March 2005) using the following terms:  “patch occupancy,” “habitat occupancy,” “metapopulation,” “island biogeography,” and “incidence function.” Several hundred articles were screened of which 280 were examined in detail and 109 of the 280 were deemed ok to be included in the research.

I found this research project really interesting. Habitat destruct has always been a topic of interest to me and this article went into much more detail. I found it specially interesting to learn of the importance of patch area and isolation. I believe the results of this research are important and should be utilized to predict and in the end protect more species in danger do to fragmentaiton.

Authors

1. Laura R. Prugh
   • aDepartment of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, 137 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720;
2. Karen E. Hodges
   • bCentre for Species at Risk and Habitat Studies, University of British Columbia Okanagan, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, BC, Canada V1V 1V7; and 
3. Anthony R. E. Sinclair
   • cCentre for Biodiversity Research, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4
4. Justin S. Brashares
   • aDepartment of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, 137 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720;

Link to full scholarly

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/52/20770.full

Post-Fire Recovery of Acorn Production by Four Oak Species in Southern Ridge Sandhill Association in South-Central Florida

Warren G. Abrahamson and James N. Layne

Two components of research were done in this study. Both the amount of stems that grew acorns and the number of acorns produced were examined. Four types of oaks were being tested, two white oak species, and two red oak species. Counts of both of these were taken yearly from 1969 to 1998 on two 2.7 hectare plots. The prescribed burn took place in May of 1993 on one of the plots. Both species of white oak produced acorns the year after the fire, although not as many as years before the fire, although five years after the fire, began producing more acorns than years before the fire. Red oak species took 3-4 years to begin producing acorns again, although there were no remarkable differences after they began producing again. The amount of acorns produced along with the timing of production both have the potential to heavily influence the biodiversity of the area because birds, mammals and insects which eat the acorns are all affected as well as the species they interact with.

Data needed for this study is observational because the researchers are observing a behavior of a species before and after a variable is changed. Data gathering came from walking the grid of both the control plot (unburned) and the burned plot and counting each checkpoint tree for sufficiently developed acorns. Counting acorns on taller trees was almost certainly less accurate than most oaks, but a long bamboo pole was used to move branches around for visibility. Data analysis was all done by purely counting what had been produced compared to years before.  

Abrahamson, Warren G., and James N. Layne. “Post-Fire Recovery of Acorn Production by Four Oak Species in Southern Ridge Sandhill Association in South-Central Florida.” American Journal of Botany, vol. 89, no. 1, 2002, pp. 119–123. www.jstor.org/stable/4131345.

The scholarly article I choose to analyze was “Lending practices and Canadian women in micro-based businesses” by Orser Barbara J. and Foster, M K. The article was published in the Women in Management Review 9.5 in 1994. The article can be found on page 11 at the web address at the bottom of the page, I sought out this article to observe studies on micro-loaning and it’s the mechanics behind the operation of this niche market.  http://0-] search.proquest.com.books.redlands.edu/docview/213131010/abstract/32C5E2FDB67E44A5PQ/1?accountid=14729

The article touched upon the unusual circumstances surrounding microloans considering their inherently risky nature and neglect for conventional measures of stability to cover the crucial point of typical lending behavior which was the five C model of lending criteria. The article described in outstanding detail the characteristics that they consider in micro-loan applicants and the systems in place that has cultivated a nurturing environment for such a vulnerable industry. In addition, the article investigates the growing concern of sexism regarding the micro-loan criteria. The article pointed out that the criteria itself are not sexist although it’s application has proven to be hostile towards female entrepreneurs.

The article’s topic is on lending practices and their variability. In addition, the research question that I have arrived at is how are micro loaner’s able to survive in economic climates that large lending firms don’t find navigable?

To answer the question, I would find expert knowledge data. This is crucial because while economic repercussions are difficult to understand and adapt too although being in a market that’s based solely on high-risk dealing is far more difficult.

The data-gathering method that the author used was collecting public and private records from various sources of aggregate data and specific case studies that were of interest. The method that was determined to me most suitable for the study is interval ratio data analyses.

I find this study to be incredibly useful to forming a meticulous illustration of the criteria, biases, economic, and sociological factors that determine the eligibility of applicants. For instance, a piece of information that gave me deep insight into the field was that “economic restructuring, corporate downsizing, and high unemployment have created a “push” to self-employment. At the same time, the demand for contract services and new micro-market segments have “pulled” innovators into the micro-business sector”. This quote points out an indisputable but often ignored fact of our current economy which is that the U.S and many other nations have become service sector economies. The article proceeds to elaborate on my motivation for approaching this article which was micro-lending and utility in 3rd world countries. The method that they are referring to would fund economic development with far greater efficiency due to the emergence of micro markets during the 2nd industrial revolution the new micro-markets and in our evaluation of this research.   

I don’t believe the class or most readers would find this particular study interesting because of its niche audience although what I found was particularly interesting was that there is only a single commercial bank that performs micro-loans. The bank is called the Royal Bank and it is in Canada. In addition, Canada was found to be the 2nd most likely country in the world to secure its debt through commercial banking due to small-business owners and small-business finance.

In the article “Examining Masculine Gender Role Conflict and Stress in Relation to Religious Orientation and Spiritual Well-Being”, authors James R. Mahalik and Hugh D. Logan delve into the topic of  the intersection between gender roles and religion. More specifically, the two men wished to answer the research question: “Do gender role conflict and stress predict. Catholic seminarian an college age men’s religiosity and spiritual well-being?”. To answer this question, the researchers collected data in the form of surveys, asking 151 single, primarily Caucasian, Catholic men to fill out several tests. Of these men, 77 were seminarians, while the rest were not. Both groups were surveyed on the Gender Role Conflict Scale, the Gender Role Stress Scale, the Extrensic and Intrinsic Religious Orientation Scales, and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. Mahalik and Logan analyzed the results of the surveys, and came to the conclusion that there are significant relationships between gender role conflict and stress and religiosity and well-being. Interestingly, however, these relationships were often manifested differently between nonseminarians and seminarians, with seminarians often fairing worse than nonseminarians when under a great deal of gender role stress and conflict.

I found the project to be very interesting, though I do agree with the authors’ sown assessment that the self-reported nature of the project, as well as the common answer of “not applicable”, may have somewhat skewed the data. I did appreciate that the numbers of seminarians and nonseminarians were nearly equal, and that both groups drew from a range of states. I would have liked to see a broader study on the topic, rather than one focusing on a single religious denomination, but understand that to do so would have required a much more extensive study. As a whole, I found the article to be interesting, and the arguement to be compelling.

Psychology of Men & Masculinity 2.1, Jan 2001, pgs. 24-33

The article, “Minimizing Harm and Maximizing Pleasure: Considering the Harm Reduction Paradigm for Sexuality Education”, by Michael Naisteter and Justin Sitron,  has four goals: to define the goals of a comprehensive sexual education program as well as an HIV/STI prevention program, to analyze the absence of pleasure as a topic for sex education program for youth, to define and identify harm reduction based sex education, and, lastly, to offer specific suggestions for implementing pleasure and harm reduction oriented topics into the current sexual education curriculum.

The article begins by arguing that a comprehensive sex education program not only includes disease and pregnancy prevention, which is only one small portion of sex safety, but must also include, “sexual development, sexual and reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image, and gender roles” (Naisteter and Sitron, 102.) Since the HIV epidemic in 1980s sex education has been primarily focused on prevention of pregnancy and STIs through the use of contraceptives, abstinence, and identification of risky behaviors. This curriculum has continued with the focus of sex education programs on abstinence only.

“Primary prevention operates in a paradigm of risk preemption by exclusively focusing on teaching participants to avoid negative health consequences before they transpire (Broom, 2008). Proponents often emphasize evidence-based programs, medicalization, and behavioral risk (Broom, 2008).” (Naisteter and Sitron, 104.) The article argues that positing safe sex versus unsafe sex sets up a dichotomy that only allows sex educators to teach about sexuality in a negative light rather than teaching that sex, including sex for pleasure, can be positive with risk prevention.

Naisteter and Sitron argue that sex education should be set up on a spectrum that does not polarize any group of people, including those who have sex for pleasure, those who have already contracted STDs or STIs, and who have practiced risky sexual behavior in the past. As sex education is currently, solely based on risk prevention, pleasure is seen as mutually exclusive to safety. The article argues that sex education should be reformed to include a spectrum that includes sex that is not inhibited by sexual safety on one end and sex that is hindered by sexual safety on the other.

By introducing harm reduction programs that view sex positively and acknowledge pleasure. Harm reduction programs would allow sex educators to speak to a wide variety of people who have different sexual histories and promote safe sex including pleasure in a positive light. Incorporated into current sex education curriculum, harm reduction and pleasure based curriculum would have to loo for alternatives to teaching only safe versus unsafe practices, abstinence only, and the use of the condom as the only birth control.

Broom, D. (2008). Hazardous good intentions? Unintended consequences of the project of prevention. Health Sociology Review, 17(2), 129–140.

Naisteter, M., Sitron, J. (2010). Minimizing Harm and Maximizing Pleasure: Considering the Harm Reduction Paradigm for Sexuality Education. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 5, 101-115.

In this article, the study looks at the dropout rates by looking at first graders to find any early signs. In the study, there were 1,242 black students that went to school in an urban neighborhood. In this community, dropout rates were very high, so the people in the study wanted to find any correlation. In the study, the researchers looked at school performance in the first grade, along with family background, family environment, and educational hopes at the time. They compared these factors to see if any pattern related to dropout rates in high school or just any major educational problems. In order to do this study, the researchers decided to take longitudinal data so that they can continually get the data overtime from the same 1,242 individuals that started the study.When the researchers collected the data for the final time, they found school files from 1,101 of the 1,242 that started the study. The researchers also took out all the people that moved and or died in the given time. Of the remaining students, it was calculated that 57% of males and 44.8% of females had dropped out. One of the underlying reasons was that some families struggled to get the kids to school due to economic constrictions. Overall, there was a link to socioeconomic status and dropout rate in this particular district.

This study could be beneficial because it answers the main question that I am researching. However, it only looks at one community in an urban area. I might want to look at more areas, both urban and rural, to see how this data relates to others that are similar. This study was beneficial for my learning and is another source that I could use later on.

Ensminger, Margaret E., and Anita L. Slusarcick. “Paths to High School Graduation or Dropout: A Longitudinal Study of a First-Grade Cohort.” Sociology of Education, vol. 65, no. 2 (1992): 95–113

The book set looks at international sources from the 1950s to the present day to provide an outlook on retailing. This article mentions the structural spatial relationships in the spread of hypermarket and the personality of the retail store.  Stores use a multiple-item scale for measuring consumers to see what they want/prefer.  Findlay analyzes the oligopolistic behavior in the market as well as clarifying the difference between manufacturers’ brands. The role of brands in European marketing is compared to the role of brands in American marketing.  Findlay touches on some problems that stores face such as economic factors that affect the spending of consumers and their customers.  Findlay raises a question during the collect:  Are store brands perceived to be just another brand?

The topic of this book set is to understand the personality of stores and who they are trying to appeal to while taking into account economic concerns as well as the structure of the American marketing system.  They used in-depth interviews, expert knowledge, as well as public and private records to gather their data.  I think they did a good job with their research as well as comparing it to another market system.  This topic was interesting in the fact that they consider stores and the market system to have human characteristics.  I think it would be an interesting read for my classmates to see how their favorite stores prove or disprove their results.

In this article the author, Daniel J. Levinson, with the use of collected research, talks about adult development and its various phases. He goes over peoples’ life course, life cycle, and the “eras” of a person’s life cycle; he goes over the life structure and its development in adulthood. Along with this he talks about the overall study of adult development as its own respective field. He discusses that people can not necessarily be defined just by adolescence and use that as a basis of comparison for how people turn out as seniors. Not only must one’s mature or adult stages of life be considered but the phases within those years and the events within those phases must be understood to make proper connections. These phases must also not be put in hierarchical positions because no phase that people go through is necessarily better than the ones that precede it they are just an old phase that will eventually be grown out of.

The topic of this article is adult development and what Levinson is specifically looking at are the phases between the ages of 17 to 65 which he considers the lifespan of the adult years. For this research, he used reports of acts, behavior, and events building off of previously done research on this topic. To gather this, he would have used public records/research that was already published which required in depth analysis of the qualitative data found.

I found this research to be incredibly insightful into the phases of adulthood which was something I always lumped together as one phase. Seeing people’s lives broken down into a structure that can be carried across to all types of people was fascinating. It gave me a better look into adulthood  gives an incredible as well as objective perspective on this topic. One thing that was the most interesting to me was seeing how he broke down the adult life span into nine separate groups but keeping with his idea that there is no hierarchy among them only transitions from one phase to another without any being better or less developed than the others.

Levinson, Daniel J. “A Conception of Adult Development.” American Psychologist 41, No. 1 (1986): 3-13.

Identifying exact species extinction risks has been a challenge for scientists for centuries. The IUCN Red List is the most widely accepted classification system, but is sometimes biased towards larger and more easily sampled species. In the article “An integrated trait-based framework to predict extinction risk and guide conservation planning in biodiversity hotspots,” the authors use base knowledge from the IUCN Red List population trends and “expert-perceived” vulnerability of environmental changes as the response variables for determining the risk of extinction for 195 amphibians in the Brazilian Cerrado. This is the world’s most biodiverse savanna as well as the largest. With the creation of this specialized extinction risk framework, the results show that the worldwide extinction risk for amphibians is underestimated by the IUCN.

The data utilized to address the research topic was reports of acts, events or behavior and acts, behavior, or events. The goal of building this framework is so that any biologist can add additional species-specific predicators on top of the basic data obtained from the IUCN. With that goal in mind, the authors obtained that data from public records from the IUCN, expert knowledge and observations; a very in depth data collection method. Although an extensive data collection method, the analysis of the data was through random forest models. They then assessed the accuracy of the models through the percentage of species correctly classified, the percentage of species not threatened that are correctly classified, and percentage of threatened species that are correctly classified with a statistical constant testing for agreement between the two classification systems.

Overall, this article was the most helpful article I have found on my research topic so far. It highlighted various ways to define priority areas for species with a lack of data and what predictors to use when attempting to create a more in depth classification system. This article also makes me question how many more taxa are underestimated for extinction risks. It is a daunting task for a scientist striving to save all the species we co-inhabit this planet with.

Joana Ribeiro, Guarino R. Colli, Janalee P. Caldwell, Amadeu M.V.M. Soares, An integrated trait-based framework to predict extinction risk and guide conservation planning in biodiversity hotspots, Biological Conservation, Volume 195, March 2016, Pages 214-223, ISSN 0006-3207, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.12.042.