Investigating Differences in How the News Media Views Homosexuality Across Nations: An Analysis of the United States,South Africa,and Uganda

While there is a wealth of information about the extent to which people across the world disapprove of homosexuality, we know a lot less about the lenses through which they view same‐sex relations. The aim of this study is to understand better how homosexuality is framed in the public press, and how religion and economic development may combine to shape this discourse. Through an analysis of almost 400 newspaper articles, this study compares how homosexuality is framed in Uganda, South Africa, and the United States. Because these nations have high levels of religious belief, but differ in their level of economic development and democracy, we can assess how these factors interact to shape portrayals. Drawing on work from cultural sociology and the sociology of religion, this study shows that the United States is much more likely than Uganda to frame homosexuality as a civil rights issue and use entertainers as claimsmakers. Conversely, articles from Uganda are more likely than those from the United States or South Africa to frame homosexuality as a religious issue and draw on religious claimsmakers. Likewise, Uganda is much more likely than South Africa to discuss homosexuality in the context of Western influences.     

Diagnosis as Subculture: Subversions of Health and Medical Knowledges in the Orthorexia Recovery Community on Instagram

Qualitative Sociology - Diagnoses are powerful tools that fulfill various practical and symbolic functions. In this paper, I examine how a contested diagnosis called orthorexia nervosa has been...     

When Does Time Matter? Maternal Employment,Children’s Time With Parents,and Child Development

This study tests the two assumptions underlying popularly held notions that maternal employment negatively affects children because it reduces time spent with parents: (1) that maternal employment reduces children’s time with parents, and (2) that time with parents affects child outcomes. We analyze children’s time-diary data from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and use child fixed-effects and IV estimations to account for unobserved heterogeneity. We find that working mothers trade quantity of time for better “quality” of time. On average, maternal work has no effect on time in activities that positively influence children’s development, but it reduces time in types of activities that may be detrimental to children’s development. Stratification by mothers’ education reveals that although all children, regardless of mother’s education, benefit from spending educational and structured time with their mothers, mothers who are high school graduates have the greatest difficulty balancing work and childcare. We find some evidence that fathers compensate for maternal employment by increasing types of activities that can foster child development as well as types of activities that may be detrimental. Overall, we find that the effects of maternal employment are ambiguous because (1) employment does not necessarily reduce children’s time with parents, and (2) not all types of parental time benefit child development.     

Alternative Medicine and Herbal Use Among University Students

Abstract

Objective: This study sought to (1) examine perceived stress and resources to cope with stress as predictors of emotional eating during the transition to college and (2) determine whether body mass index (BMI) moderated the emotional eating-stress relationship. Participants: Participants were 97 college freshmen (73% female; BMI: M = 25.3 kg/m², SD = 5.7 kg/m²). Research was conducted in September 2012. Methods: Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Emotional Eating Scale, and Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire during the first month of college. Height and weight were measured objectively. Results: BMI moderated the relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating. Higher stress predicted greater emotional eating for the lower BMI groups, but not the highest group. Greater resources to cope with stress predicted lower emotional eating. Conclusions: Greater perceived stress and poorer resources to cope with stress may contribute to emotional eating during the transition to college. The relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating may vary by BMI.     

The impact of ethnicity on attitudes toward health care reform in New Mexico

Latinos tend to have significantly lower levels of access to general and top quality medical care than do non-Latino whites, and although disparities in access to health care have diminished for all other minority groups over time, they have widened for Latinos. Given these trends, current attempts to provide universal health care at both the national and state levels across the United States have large implications for the health status of Latinos. The objective of this analysis is to determine whether Latinos have different attitudes regarding health reform than non-Latino whites. Our data are from a statewide random digit dialing telephone survey of New Mexico residents, age 18 and older, conducted in the Fall of 2007. With a Latino population of 44% and ongoing health care reform efforts by the state legislature, New Mexico is an ideal location for this analysis. After controlling for a host of individual level factors, our findings suggest that while Latinos are less likely to identify health care as a salient state issue relative to the economy and crime, they are more likely than non-Latino whites to believe affordable health care programs are important. Finally, Latinos view employers, more than government or individuals, to be responsible for expanding health care coverage.     

The Role and Function of the Faculty Field Liaison

This article examines the purposes, defines the role, and analyzes the functions of a faculty field liaison. It reflects the experience of faculty members who have carried this assignment as a major responsibility. In recognition of the impact of this role on the educational process and the need for it to be clearly understood, the authors have attempted to distill its essence and to clarify the requirements for its effective practice.     

Interaction Effects of the Amount of Practice, Preferred Cane Technique, and Type of Cane Technique Used on Drop-off Detection Performance

This study examined the interaction effects of the amount of practice and the cane technique used in drop-off detection with a sample of 32 adults who were blind. The advantage of the constant contact technique over the two-point touch technique was significantly greater for the less experienced cane users than for the more experienced ones.     

Blessed assurance: Religion, anxiety, and tranquility among US adults

A growing body of research investigates the possible relationships between religion and mental health. After developing a series of arguments linking various aspects of religion with anxiety and tranquility, we test relevant hypotheses using data from the 1996 General Social Survey. Results show that frequency of religious attendance and the belief in an afterlife are inversely associated with feelings of anxiety and positively associated with feelings of tranquility. However, frequency of prayer has no direct association with either outcome. Strong beliefs in the pervasiveness of sin are positively linked with anxiety but unrelated to tranquility. Finally, belief in an afterlife and frequency of prayer buffer the adverse effects of poor health and financial decline on anxiety. Implications of these findings are discussed along with study limitations and promising directions for future research.