Analyzing equity impacts of transit fare changes: Case study of Alameda–Contra Costa Transit,California

Many public transit agencies consider increasing fares when faced with budget shortfalls. This paper analyzes the Alameda–Contra Costa (AC) Transit District's five alternative fare proposals introduced for public discussion in March 2005. The proposals combined fare hikes, base fare reductions, eliminations of free transfers, and discontinuation of periodic passes. Using the agency's 2002 on-board survey data, the study assessed the impacts of individual fare proposals on different subsets of riders and evaluated if they were equitable; and estimated potential fare revenues, using alternative price elasticities to estimate changes in ridership due to changes in price. The analysis revealed that proposals that increased the cost of transfers or eliminated unlimited-use passes produced dramatically unequal impacts on certain riders. Proposals for flat fares per ride were found to be least equitable, even when the base fare was lowered, because lower income riders, youth, and minorities made more trips and transferred more frequently than their more affluent counterparts. Proposals that maintained existing pass instruments and allowed transfers for small fees were the most favorable. The paper demonstrates the utility of on-board surveys and details an approach that could be widely used for evaluation of equity in public transit and other areas.     

Effect of the Imagination Library on caregiver–child literacy interactions and school readiness: findings from two quasi-experimental propensity score studies

The paper reports findings of two quasi-experimental, propensity score matched (PSM) studies on the effects of Imagination Library (IL). IL is a community book-distribution program targeting improved caregiver–child literacy interactions, which are hypothesized to lead to increased school readiness – consisting of improved emergent literacy skills and social-emotional school readiness. In Study One, interviews were used to examine proximal increases in the quality of child–caregiver literacy interactions with 112 PSM families (IL?=?56; non-IL?=?56). Small effects were observed in Study One favoring IL families on reading interactions (d?=?.043). In Study Two, 378 PSM kindergarten students (IL?=?189; non-IL?=?189) were compared with regard to standardized tests of emergent literacy skills and social-emotional school readiness – distal outcomes of IL. No effects were observed in Study Two. Taken together, these two studies run counter to prior reports on the effects of IL and suggest that more must be done to improve emergent literacy and school readiness beyond simply providing free books.     

Canadian University Acknowledgment of Indigenous Lands,Treaties, and Peoples

At many Canadian universities it is now common to publicly acknowledge Indigenous lands, treaties, and peoples. Yet, this practice has yet to be considered as a subject of scholarly inquiry. How does this practice vary and why? In this paper we describe the content and practice of acknowledgment, linking this content to treaty relationships (or lack thereof). We show that acknowledgment tends to be one of five general types: of land and title (British Columbia), of specific treaties and political relationships (Prairies), of multiculturalism and heterogeneity (Ontario), of no practice (most of Quebec), and of people, territory, and openness to doing more (Atlantic). Based on these results, we conclude that the fluidity of acknowledgment as a practice, including changing meanings depending on the positionality of the acknowledger, need to be taken into account. Plusieurs universités Canadien pratique une reconnaissance des territoires, des traités, et des peoples autochtone en publique. Cette pratique, cependant, n'a jamais été considérée comme une enquête savante. Dans ce projet nous regardons comment les reconnaissances varie par institution et pourquoi. Nous trouvons qu'il y a un lien entre le contenu des reconnaissances et les relations traité. On démontre cinq forme des reconnaissances: territoire et titre (Colombie britannique); traité spécifique and les relations politiques (Prairies); multiculturalisme et hétérogénéité (Ontario); l'absence (la majorité du Québec); et des peoples, territoire et volonté a plus faire (Atlantique). Nous concluons que la fluidité de la reconnaissance, comme pratique, est fluide et doit prendre en considération la position de la personne qui le fait.     

Attachment and personality predicts engagement in sexual harassment by male and female college students

The purpose of this study was to examine a trait model of personality (Five-Factor Model) as a mediator of the relationship between attachment styles and sexually harassing behavior in a sample of male (N = 148) and female (N = 278) college students. We found that gender (male) and low Agreeableness predicted engaging in sexual harassment and all three of its subtypes; gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion. Further, low Conscientiousness predicted overall sexual harassment, gender harassment, and unwanted sexual attention. Personality traits mediated the relationship between insecure attachment styles (Preoccupation with Relationships and Relationships as Secondary) and sexually harassing behaviors. Thus, factors beyond gender can help predict students' propensity to sexually harass others.     

Stressful neighborhoods and depression: a prospective study of the impact of neighborhood disorder

Quantitative and qualitative research suggests that urban disadvantaged environments may be highly stressful to their inhabitants. Social disorganization may be deleterious to both physical and mental health. The relationships among perceptions of one's neighborhood, measures of social support and social integration, and level of subsequent depressive symptoms was examined with a community sample of 818 individuals screened for an HIV prevention intervention, most of whom were current or former drug users. After adjusting for baseline levels of depressive symptoms, perceptions of neighborhood characteristics (vandalism, litter or trash, vacant housing, teenagers hanging out, burglary, drug selling, and robbery) predicted depressive symptoms at a 9-month follow-up interview. Measures of social support and social integration, entered as interactions with neighborhood perceptions, did not buffer the effect of neighborhood perceptions. However, CES-D scores at follow-up for frequent church attendees were lower. The data support theories of social disorganization and social stress and suggest the need for structural intervention.     

Conflict of Interest Mitigation Procedures May Have Little Influence on the Perceived Procedural Fairness of Risk‐Related Research

Two between‐subject experiments explored perceived conflict of interest (COI)—operationalized as perceived procedural unfairness—in a hypothetical public–private research partnership to study the health risks of trans fats. Perceived fairness was measured as subjects’ perceptions that health researchers would be willing to listen to a range of voices and minimize bias (i.e., COI) in the context of a research project. Experiment 1 (n = 1,263) randomly assigned research subjects to a partnership that included (1) a combination of an industry partner, a university partner, and a nongovernmental organization (NGO) partner; and (2) one of three processes aimed at mitigating the potential for COI to harm the quality of the research. The procedures included an arm's‐length process meant to keep the university‐based research team from being influenced by the other partners, an independent advisory board to oversee the project, and a commitment to making all data and analyses openly available. The results suggest that having an industry partner has substantial negative effects on perceived fairness and that the benefit of employing a single COI‐mitigation process may be relatively small. Experiment 2 (n = 1,076) assessed a partnership of (1) a university and either an NGO or industry partner and (b) zero, one, two, or three of the three COI‐mitigation procedures. Results suggest there is little value in combining COI‐mitigation procedures. The study has implications for those who aim to foster confidence in scientific findings for which the underlying research may benefit from industry funding.     

Domain Specificity in Adolescents’ Concepts of Laws: Associations Among Beliefs and Behavior

Using detailed vignettes and scale measures, concepts of laws regulating domain‐specific issues and engagement in delinquency were assessed among 340 9th through 12th graders (M_age = 16.64, SD = 1.37). Adolescents distinguished between laws that regulate moral, drug‐related prudential, conventional, personal, and multifaceted issues in their criterion judgments and justifications. Youths’ ratings of the importance of laws, obligation to obey laws, and deserved punishment for breaking different laws also followed domain‐consistent patterns. Adolescents’ engagement in moral, drug‐related prudential, and multifaceted forms of delinquency was associated with less supportive judgments about laws within the same domain. Findings contribute to civic development research by demonstrating domain specificity in adolescents’ beliefs about laws and suggest that these beliefs are linked with engagement in similar types of delinquency.     

Investigation of Change in Adolescent Perceptions of Mothers' and Fathers' Contributions to Interparental Discord From 7th to 9th Grades

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether adolescent perceptions of mothers' and fathers' contributions to interparental discord changed from early to middle adolescence and if the changes were related to adolescent negative mood. Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Adolescents who were in 7th grade at the Wave 1 assessment and lived with both biological parents during Waves 1–4 were included in this research (n=812; 55% boys; 69% White). Findings indicated that adolescents' perceptions of their mothers' and their fathers' contributions to interparental discord increased at similar rates from early to middle adolescence. The largest increases in adolescent perceptions of mothers' and fathers' contributions to interparental discord from 7th to 9th grades were associated with the largest increases in adolescent negative mood from 7th to 10th grades. Girls' perceptions of their fathers' contributions to interparental relationship problems increased at a steeper rate compared with boys. Findings are discussed in the context of the sensitization hypothesis.