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open access

Structural Correlates of Community Innovation

Description: Structural differences between communities which exhibit a tendency toward innovation and communities which fail to exhibit this tendency are studied. The Model Cities program is used as a test case for the tendency toward innovation, and two samples (applicants and non-applicants) are matched on the basis of population size. Four structural elements are examined as related to applicant status: community differentiation, community poverty, community social-human resource commitment, and the cen… more
Date: May 1974
Creator: Hartling, Sally Caldwell
open access

Social Class Position, Familism, and Family Leisure-Time Involvement: An Exploration

Description: The literature revealed a neglect in the area of family leisure-time behavior. The problem under consideration in this investigation was leisure-time behavior among fathers with members of the immediate family. Forty five fathers were selected for this study. Fifteen fathers represented each of three social class positions as defined by the Hollingshead two-factor index of education and occupation. All fathers had to be presently married and living at the same residence with spouse and children… more
Date: December 1974
Creator: Jorgenson, David E.
open access

An Empirical Examination of Conflict Theory: Race and Sentence Length

Description: The conflict perspective of criminology and societal reaction to crime suggests that the administration of criminal justice is determined and controlled by those segments of society which are relatively powerful. Based on this perspective, it is reasonable to expect that relatively powerful groups or categories will be far less subject to severe criminal sanctions than will those who are relatively powerless. This proposition may be tested at points in the criminal justice system where decision… more
Date: August 1976
Creator: Dison, Jack E.
open access

Domestic Law and Population Characteristics

Description: This study examines current domestic provisions and their extent of departure from English common law principles. The purpose of this study is to discover whether differences among state domestic codes are associated with differences among demographic characteristics. If such associations do exist, then some conclusion might be made regarding the feasibility of a national, uniform domestic code. This study examines current domestic provisions and their extent of departure from English common la… more
Date: December 1976
Creator: Forbes, Winona R.
open access

An Exploratory Study of Children's Ideas About Death, with a View Toward Developing an Explanatory Model

Description: Much research relating to children and death has focused on the age-graded developmental model originally proposed by Nagy in the late 1940s. Children are alleged to pass from an infantile to a mature view, seeing death first as separation, then as the result of intervention by a supernatural being, and finally as an irreversible biological process. Accepted theory for thirty years, scholars have since noted difficulty in duplicating Nagy's findings and have come to question the universal appli… more
Date: May 1979
Creator: Hargrove, Eddie L.
open access

The Effect of High Age-Concentration on the Morale and Neighborhood Mutual-Aid Patterns of the Elderly

Description: This study investigated the effects of high age-concentration of residential environment on: (1) the morale of the elderly; and (2) mutual-aid patterns with neighbors of the elderly. Empirical tests of hypotheses derived from the socio-environmental approach to aging were performed. The socio-environmental approach suggested that persons were most satisfied with themselves when there was congruency between what was expected of them by others in the environment and what they expected of themselv… more
Date: May 1982
Creator: Sizemore, Mark T. (Mark Troy)
open access

The Effects of Various Types of Preschool-Age Day Care on Later Academic Performance and Conduct in School

Description: Since World War II there has been a "revolutionary" increase in nonparental preschool-age child care. However, the effects of nonparental preschool care remains illusive. In an effort to address some of the limitations of previous research, seven different types of preschool-age care were statistically analyzed. Survey research and available data were gathered on 456 students in a large mid-south metropolitan area. Academic performance was measured by intelligence test scores and report card sp… more
Date: May 1983
Creator: McCall, John W. (John William)
open access

Occupational Inequality Between Men and Women in Metropolitan Labor Markets, 1950-1970

Description: This study examined changes between 1950 and 1970 in women's aggregate occupational position in 168 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Specifically, the research was designed to study three aspects of women's occupational position. First, women's distribution across occupational categories (absolute position) was examined. Absolute position was defined as the percent of working women in professional and managerial occupations. Second, women's occupational position compared to men (relativ… more
Date: August 1984
Creator: Darville, Ray Lynn, 1955-
open access

A Content Analysis of Citations to Four Prominent Philosophers of Science in Selected Sociology Journals

Description: Numerous studies have attempted to measure scientists' influence by measuring the quantity of citations to their works. The problem with "citation counting," as it is called, is that it assumes that each listing of an author in a citation index is equal to another without bothering to explore the substantive uses of citations in the source article. The present study attempts to alleviate this problem by content analysis of citations in a limited sphere: reference to major philosophers of scienc… more
Date: August 1985
Creator: Rowe, M. Edward (Montie Edward)
open access

French Structuralism and its Contribution to Sociological Theory

Description: This study delineates the basic concepts and analytical techniques of contemporary French structuralists, namely Levi-Strauss, Lacan, Barthes, Althusser, and Foucault, and critically examines the contribution of their formulations to sociological theory and the implication of such formulations on the methodological orientation in sociology.
Date: August 1985
Creator: Abderrahmane, Azzi
open access

Selected Structural Characteristics of Community Innovativeness: An Analysis of the Urban Development Action Grant Program

Description: This study is an investigation of the relationship between selected structural characteristics of the community and innovation among cities. Four major Structural characteristics were chosen to serve as independent variables. These independent variables were community differentiation, community poverty, community maturity and type of local government. Innovation, as measured by applicant status to the federal Urban Development Action Grant Program, served as the dependent variable. Analysis of … more
Date: May 1986
Creator: Williams, Frank R. (Frank Robinson)
open access

Systematic Statement of Mahatma Gandhi's Theory of Social Stratification

Description: This study presents the major ideas of Mahatma Gandhi on social stratification and social inequality. The methodology consists of systematically reading and analyzing the literature through which the theoretical components of social stratification in Gandhi's writings become more explicit, and evaluating these theoretical components. A systematic statement of Gandhi's theory of social stratification included the following five components. First, social differentiation is inherent in human natur… more
Date: August 1986
Creator: Vyas, Ashwin G.
open access

Toward a Program Evaluation of the Community Mental Health Center Selected Application of the Parsonian Model

Description: The purpose of this study is to test the utility of Talcott Parsons' AGIL Model, i.e., Adaptation, Goal Attainment, Integration, and Latency (Pattern Maintenance) in evaluating the program effectiveness of a community mental health center (CMHC). The model provided a conceptual framework for the selection of appropriate variables. The dependent variable in this study is the overall evaluation of the CMHC as measured through the perception of community leaders. Fourteen hypotheses were construc… more
Date: August 1986
Creator: Moodley, Bobby
open access

The Change of Individual Opinions Through Gender-Related Group Influence: An Empirical Study of College Students

Description: The opinions of individuals may be influenced by groups of different gender configurations. This influence was studied by asking college students to respond to a series of statements in pretest and post-test settings. Post-test settings included the use of manipulatively constructed confederate groups to influence the subjects' responses. A pretest was administered in an anonymous nonthreatening environment. Within a week, the subjects were post-tested in a setting with four "confederates" who … more
Date: December 1986
Creator: Blodgett, Billy P. (Billy Paul)
open access

On Parent-Child Relations: Toward the Construction of a Theory of Filial Exchange

Description: This investigation represents an initial attempt toward the construction of a general life cycle theory of parent-child relations. Emphasis was placed on the parent-adult child relationship with the onset of a filial crisis, e.g., due to illness. After the theory was described, two of the five propositions comprising this orientation (i.e., propositions four and five) were analyzed through a series of twenty-five hypotheses. The objectives of these hypotheses were (a) to analyze the relationshi… more
Date: December 1986
Creator: Ziner, Andrew Scott
open access

Sources of Support and Parental Performances a Descriptive Study of Mexican-American Female Single Parents

Description: This is a descriptive study of the statistical association between the amounts of financial—emotional supports available and their impact on the degree of difficulty in the performance of the parental roles of a nonrandom sample of eighty-six Mexican-American female single parents from McAllen, Texas. The sample was divided into four socioeconomic status categories. A total of twenty-nine variables were correlated: twenty independent, financial-emotional and nine dependent parental performance … more
Date: August 1987
Creator: Maldonado, Alfred C.
open access

The Value Systems of Incarcerated Embezzlers: The Implications for Sociological Practice and Value Clarification Programs for Correctional Institutions

Description: An empirical investigation at a southwestern minimum security federal correctional institution was designed to assess the value systems of incarcerated embezzlers (N = 31) as they compared to a matched offender control group (N = 31). Based on their responses on the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). no statistically significant differences between these groups were found. Therefore, this finding suggested that these embezzlers possessed similar value systems held by those inmates convicted of other c… more
Date: August 1987
Creator: Welch, Michael (Michael Francis)
open access

Dispute Resolution Studies in the Institutions of Higher Learning: an Initial Investigative Study of Professors' Attitudes

Description: Conflict is present in all human relationships and societies. Throughout history, fighting has been more notable than peacemaking. Only recently have conflict resolution studies entered the mainstream of academia. Since peace is no longer an option, but a necessity, educators must become actively engaged in promoting the importance of peacemaking skills among their students. In 1986, the National Institute for Dispute Resolution funded a study of conflict resolution in higher education. Results… more
Date: December 1987
Creator: Ghadrshenass, Delavar
open access

Gender and Earnings: Examining the Earnings Gap Between Men and Women Across Metropolitan Labor Markets

Description: The earnings gap between men and women, an apt indicator of women's status relative to men's, was roughly constant for the thirty-five years between 1950 and 1985. During this period women earned about 60 to 65 cents for every dollar earned by men. The purpose of this study is to analyze the determinants of this wage gap. Because much existing research suggests that a large portion of the gender gap in pay results from the segregation of women into low-paying jobs, the present study focuses on … more
Date: December 1987
Creator: Dunn, Dana
open access

The Effects of Cognitive Style and Socialization Background on Patterns of Behavior: Integrating Individual Differences (Using the MBTI) with Meadian Socialization Theory

Description: The general purpose of this study is to examine the effects of socialization background and cognitive style on individuals' patterns of behavior. The more specific purpose is to integrate the individual differences factor using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator with Meadian Theory of Socialization in order to explore the ways in which a group of incarcerated individuals with prior felony and misdemeanor convictions and a group of college students are different regarding their different socializat… more
Date: May 1988
Creator: Nazempooran, Ali
open access

Alcohol Use among the Elderly in Edmonton, Alberta: a Multivariate Analysis

Description: A model of social stressor variables, social integration variables and demographic control variables was tested to assess their impact on alcohol use among the elderly. A secondary analysis of a survey on alcohol use among the elderly in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was conducted to test the major hypotheses of the study. Contingency table analysis, using gamma and partial gamma as correlation coefficients, was utilized in the data analysis. The first hypothesis, in regard to the positive relatio… more
Date: May 1989
Creator: Watson, Jack Borden
open access

Grandparent Satisfaction and Family Structure: a Descriptive Study of Multigenerational Families in Denton County, Texas

Description: This descriptive study of 45 multi-generational families contributes empirical knowledge about grandparent-grandchild relationships. A questionnaire was developed and completed by 74 subjects who were part of a randomly selected sample taken from a tax roll of homeowners over age 65 in Denton County, Texas. The responses provide information which expands the existing data base in the area of grandparenting. The study pinpoints areas in the grandparenting literature which need refinement and con… more
Date: May 1989
Creator: Hettinger, Barbara J. (Barbara Jane)
open access

Organizational Identity, Health Identity, and Motivation: a Symbolic Interactionist Approach to the Understanding of Heath Behaviors in Work Settings

Description: Identity is an important determinant of behavior. This paper proposed an identity model as one way of understanding those factors related to the perceived probability or willingness of a worker to participate in health promotion programming at the worksite. Part of a larger study on employee wellness, this study took place in the municipal complex of a small city in the southeastern United States. A stratified cross sectional sample of 150 employees was selected utilizing a systematic random sa… more
Date: May 1989
Creator: Weber, Linda R. (Linda Roberta)
open access

Family and Peer Effects upon Adolescent Chemical Use and Abstinence

Description: Using questionnaire survey generated data from a single school district, this study investigated the effects of family factors, peer factors, school problem behaviors, and psychosocial factors on adolescents' use of or abstinence from alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. Following a review of literature, a theoretical framework incorporating family socialization theory was use to operationalize variables, develop indices, and generate hypotheses to be tested, as well as develop a general model … more
Date: August 1989
Creator: McBroom, James Randy, 1951-
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