The SAT II: Minority/Majority Test‐Score Gaps and What They Could Mean for College Admissions*

Objective. Although most colleges and universities do not currently use SAT II subject tests to make admissions decisions, changing sentiment against aptitude tests could lead to more widespread use of the SAT II. This study examines score gaps on the SAT II between white and minority students. Methods. Using data from the Texas Schools Microdata Panel, I estimate the influence of race/ethnicity on SAT II writing scores after controlling for sample selection. Results. This study shows that although the average white student performs better than the average minority student on the SAT II writing exam, Asian and black students outperform white students when controlling for academic performance, family background, and high school fixed effects, while allowing different returns to characteristics. Conclusions. These score gaps reverse only if the average minority student is given the same characteristics as the average white student. Unequal incomes and educational environments virtually ensure these score gaps will endure well into the future.     

Where do underage college students get alcohol?

Alcohol consumption and related problems are common among underage college students, yet qualitative, in-depth information on how/where these students obtain alcohol is limited. We conducted focus groups pertaining to access to alcohol and related issues with 19 underage college students. They reported that alcohol is easy to obtain from a variety of sources, with friends/acquaintances who are of legal age or those with a false ID being the most common. Parties were also common sources, but "shoulder tapping" (i.e., asking a stranger to purchase alcohol) was not common. Disagreement arose over whether underage fraternity/sorority members have greater access to alcohol than non-Greeks. Our results provide updated information on the various sources of alcohol and associated issues among underage college students.     

Challenges faced by inpatient child/adolescent psychiatric nurses

Inpatient nurses work to engineer an environment in which patients and staff are physically and psychologically safe. A recent research study on an adult psychiatric unit examined the dimensions involved in keeping the unit safe. The four dimensions included ideology, people (staff and patients), space, and time. In this article, we discuss how these dimensions apply to real-world efforts to keep child and adolescent inpatient units safe. We also discuss the challenges nurses face within each of these safety dimensions, including those arising from fluctuating acuity, staffing formulas, surveillance of physical space, and entrenched unit cultures.     

The Differential Perceptions of Male and Female Deviants

Abstract

Hepburn (1975) stated that the definition of the audience determines whether deviance exists so that societal reaction can take place. However, the audience has not received systematic attention in the literature of the sociology of deviance. The existing literature examines mostly the reactions of official social control agents. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to determine the stereotypes held by a group besides social control agents. Further, the research explores whether the sex of the deviant affects the stereotypes associated with deviant behaviors. The data were gathered from a sample of college students attending a small liberal arts college. Twelve types of deviants representing a wide variety of behavior patterns were evaluated using an Osgood semantic differential scale. The data show that the respondents perceived each type of deviant as having a different stereotype and that the stereotypes did not overlap. Furthermore, the stereotypes were not complex ones, nor all negative. The data further indicate that the sex of the deviant was influential in how people responded to that deviant.     

Communication with diverse audiences through a case study approach

An active-learning assignment is described that involves developing strategies and identifying appropriate tactics for diverse audiences. The assignment can be used in a class of any size. Students are required to develop a goal, objectives, strategies, an identification of tactics, and evaluation plans for a request for proposals by the city of Chicago regarding an urban food desert. Students are asked to develop a plan to promote fresh, high-nutrient food to either low-income African-American women or low-income Hispanic women living in the food desert.     

The Multiculturalism Debate and Social Work Education

In an article in the Winter 1995 issue of the journal of Social Work Education, Dorothy Van Soest challenged social work professionals to debate competing perspectives on multiculturalism. Van Soest asserted that social work educators have failed to resolve hidden value conflicts about multiculturalism and, consequently, failed to carry out the theme in the social work curriculum. The authors contend that multiculturalism is the wrong construct to debate- that social work educators should be concerned instead with cultural diversity, and that Van Soest’s attack on social work education is unwarranted.     

The bivariate logarithmic series distribution

The bivariate logarithmic series distribution was introduced by Subrahmaniam (1966) as a Fisher-limit to the bivariate negative binomial distribution. The present paper considers the properties of the distribution along with various models giving rise to it. Problems of estimation and the goodness-of-fit are examined. Methods for simulating the distribution are developed and illusuated.