“To get the word out”: LGBTQ+ Young adults’ motivations for participating in qualitative research studies

Understanding why socially marginalized individuals, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ+) people, participate in research can improve qualitative research designs, as well as social services and policies. In providing a participant-centered foundation, we interviewed 65 LGBTQ+ young adults and asked “Why are certain LGBTQ+ young adults motivated to engage in qualitative social science studies?” Many LGBTQ+ young people said they were committed to enacting social change and promoting advocacy. Participants also highlighted supporting scientific research and knowledge production. Finally, LGBTQ?+ participants engaged with research to introspectively analyze their identity development processes. These findings can facilitate access to socially vulnerable and underrepresented groups through a methodological focus on participant benefits.     

Rethinking twins and environments: possible social sources for assumed genetic influences in twin research

A central sociological problem is the extent to which genetics and the environment influence human behavior. Studies of twins are a core method in attempts to disentangle and to determine the comparative strength of genetic and environmental influences on psychosocial outcomes. A critical assumption of twin studies is that both monozygotic "identical" twins and dizygotic "fraternal" twins share common social environments. Therefore, any greater similarity of monozygotic than dizygotic twins is attributed to genetic influences. This paper tests the equal environment assumption by examining the extent to which greater concordance of adolescent monozygotic compared to dizygotic twins results from social, as well as genetic, influences. Bivariate comparisons indicate that monozygotic twins show greater similarity than dizygotic twins in socially-based characteristics including physical attractiveness, time spent in each other's company, the overlap in friendship networks, and friends' use of alcohol. Multivariate analyses indicate that measures of the social environment sometimes reduce or eliminate apparent genetic effects. In comparison with genetic indicators, social variables are usually stronger predictors of depression and alcohol use and abuse. These findings suggest that past twin studies could overstate the strength of genetic influences because some similarities in behavior among monozygotic compared to dizygotic twins stem from social influences.     

Homelessness as one component of housing instability and its impact on the development of children in poverty

The number of families with children living in poverty and experiencing housing instability and homelessness has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Current public policy decisions will lead to further increases. Understanding the impact of this instability on the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development of children is imperative. Few studies critically examine the effects of instability on both domiciled and homeless children. This research examined the effects of homelessness and housing instability on 133 children 8 to 12 years of age living in poverty. Results indicate that whether a child is currently homeless is not as significant as overall stability which may have a long ranging effect on a child's future development.     

Intersections of hate: Exploring the transecting dimensions of race,religion, gender,and family in Ku Klux Klan Web sites

ABSTRACT

The United States has a historical legacy of oppression and subjugation spanning an array of social locations, including class, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and others. Contemporary research has documented a growth in themes of prejudice and racism present in popular media, such as the Internet. This study fills a gap in the literature by exploring Internet manifestations of a social group that has been historically organized around an ideology of intolerance, prejudice, and hatred: The Ku Klux Klan. Findings from an intersectional content analysis of KKK Web sites reveal that prejudice exists on multiple axes of hate. Major themes include emphases on white solidarity, the cult of Aryan Christianity, Aryan Klan masculinity and heteronormative nuclear family values. These dimensions intersect to create a complex picture of the Klan’s self-proclaimed social supremacy. Implications regarding the use of the Internet as a vehicle of hate are considered.     

The effects of an intervention campaign to enhance seat belt use on campus.

The national health objectives for the year 2000 called for an increase in the use of safety restraints to 85% of motor vehicle occupants. An assessment on one campus indicated that only 79% of those observed were wearing seat belts. Nursing faculty and students undertook a multimodal intervention campaign to increase seat belt use in the campus community. Observed use of seat belts increased to 81% after the week-long intervention consisting of reminder banners, media coverage, permanent reminder signs, roll-over demonstrations, a presentation on the need for seat belt use, and distribution of seat belt use pledge cards. Although the increase was small, it was statistically significant and could represent considerable savings in healthcare costs if even 2% of the population could be saved from serious injury by using seat belts. In addition, the change in seat belt use represented a decline of nearly 10% in the number of nonusers.     

Rethinking the nation and international relations: The space of nation states

Efforts to move sociology beyond the nation state and international relations theory have both been plagued by several limitations and dualisms. Recent research has begun to find ways beyond the problems by turning to Pierre Bourdieu's relational conception of social structure and practice. Yet one specific relational structure forming a key part of the puzzle has been neglected or merely implicitly assumed so far: the space of nation states. After clarifying the structural-constructivist nature of this concept, we aim to specify it by constructing an empirical model of the contemporary space of nation states using a specially compiled dataset and tools of geometric data analysis. The analysis reveals the distribution of powers on the world scene, and more specifically, the uneven possession of two varieties of “meta-capital” understood as capacities to regulate the value and exchangeability of certain capitals and to decree what even defines a legitimate “state”. We argue that the nation state, which is accurately understood as a contingent construct and well-founded fiction from a Bourdieusian viewpoint, should not be excluded when analyzing the expression and reproduction of contemporary global power relations.     

Permutation tests — A revival?!

It is shown that permutation tests have optimum properties for interesting classes of continuous distributions as well as for discrete ones. General conditions sufficient for uniformly maximal power on subclasses are given. Moreover, a variety of examples is presented. Research supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grant No. Schm 677/5-1