Conducting research on violence in Asian American communities: methodological issues

Conducting culturally competent research is a challenge as the United States becomes increasingly multicultural. When conducting research on violence in Asian American communities, researchers need to consider how culture, race, and ethnicity influence definitions of concepts, and methodological issues such as research designs, sampling, developing and translating instruments, ethical issues, recruiting research participants, supervising and training interviewers, and disseminating findings. Examples from the authors' research studies on community violence in the Khmer community, domestic violence in the Chinese American community, and dating violence in Asian American groups are extrapolated to highlight various themes. A commitment to a research program that collaborates with the community under study and cultural experts is vital at every stage of the research process.     

Analyzing Cohort Mortality Data

Several methods for analyzing data from mortality studies of occupationally or environmentally exposed cohorts are shown to be special cases of a single procedure. The procedure assumes a proportional hazards model for exposure effects and represents the log-likelihood kernel for the data as that of N independent Poisson variates, where N is the total number of person-units of mortality observation time in the study. It formalizes and justifies the epidemiological techniques of classifying deaths and person-months of study time into categories defined by exposure and other covariates, and of computing standardized mortality ratios and indirectly standardized death rates. Parameters representing exposure effects can be estimated by using standard software packages. Special cases and applications are described in the context of lung cancer mortality among U.S. uranium miners.     

Response to Fugard and Hines

ABSTRACT

This article replies to the responses to my article on “Sex and the Census: Why surveys should not conflate sex and gender identity“. Fugard conflates sex itself with the characteristics associated with sex, such as finger length ratios, leading to the erroneous implication that binary sex is not a useful explanatory variable. Hines fundamentally misrepresents my article, claiming that I have argued against asking respondents to the 2021 Census about their gender identity. In fact I make clear that information on gender identity is useful, but cannot replace data on sex. Muddling gender identity and sex will lead to the collection of inaccurate data on both. Hines resorts to a series of ad hominem attacks rather than engaging with the substance of the argument. Neither Fugard nor Hines is able to give a reason why we should not seek to collect accurate data on sex in the census or elsewhere.     

Concurrent training protocol for men with androgen deficiency in the aging male: a randomized clinical trial

Background: The androgen deficiency in the aging male (ADAM) affects physical, sexual, and psychological aspects with characteristics symptoms of middle-aged men. The practice of regular physical activity and physical exercise can attenuate these symptoms. The aim of this randomized clinical trial is to propose a physical exercise protocol based on concurrent training for middle-aged men with ADAM.

Method: Randomized clinical trial with a 6-month intervention will randomly divided into two groups: experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). Four evaluations will be carried out, (1) pre-intervention; (2) in the first month of intervention; (3) in the third month of intervention; (4) post-intervention, evaluating: physical, psychological, sexual, and hormonal aspects. The intervention protocol with concurrent training will have duration of 6 months; frequency of 3 times weekly, with 60?min per session. The two-way ANOVA test will be used for the inter-group and intra-group comparisons with repeated measurements, and also Sydak’s comparison test.

Conclusion: This protocol was developed with the intent of easing the symptoms of ADAM. In addition, it is believed that the concurrent training protocol could be capable to recover hormonal, physical, psychological, and sexual aspect of middle-aged men with ADAM.     

Jocks, nerds, babes and thugs: A research note on regional differences in adolescent gender norms

We use data from 1,755 college students to explore regional differences in adolescent gender norms. Students attending four Northern universities and three Southern universities during the 1997–1998 academic year provided information on the ways that adolescents in their high schools had gained prestige with peers. The analyses revealed significant gender differences on fourteen of the fifteen most common avenues to prestige. Leading avenues to prestige for boys—sports, grades, and intelligence—did not vary by region. Leading avenues to prestige for girls—physical attractiveness, grades, and intelligence—also did not vary by region. However, consistent with the stronger emphasis on traditional moral views generally found in the South than the North, regional differences were found for several other avenues to prestige. Her work focuses on the effects of status transitions on intergenerational relations, social support networks, and marital quality. In collaboration with Karl Pillemer, she is currently studying caregivers' social networks during bereavement, and relations between caregivers and nursing home staff. Her research interests include gender stratification, family, and education. Currently, she is a Research Associate on a project examining health consequences of Mexican migration, funded primarily by the Hewlett Foundation (Co-PIs: Katherine M. Donato, (LSU), and Shawn Malia Kanaiaupuni, University of Wisconsin-Madison). Her dissertation is entitled “Wages and Domestic Labor: Explaining the Gender Gap in Earnings.     

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN THE SHADOW OF CONFLICT

Appropriation possibilities significantly alter economic fundamentals in a production and exchange economy. This is the primary lesson of our model, which combines Ricardian trade and the potential for predator/prey behavior. The model shows how conflict can be subdued by mutual gains from trade, but at a resource cost that modifies the exchange itself. On the other hand, it identifies conditions wherein appropriation incentives are so strong that specialized production and trade are precluded altogether. The model also reveals a new way to think about and measure the gains from trade. ( JEL C72, D51, D74, F10)     

Interorganizational Determinants of Environmental Purchasing: Initial Evidence from the Consumer Products Industries*

Environmental purchasing consists of the purchasing function's involvement in activities that include reduction, recycling, reuse, and substitution of materials. Despite the potentially important role that the purchasing function can play in a firm's environmental activities, little research has been performed to date that examines the factors that impact environmental purchasing. The authors develop and empirically test a theoretical model that examines how interorganizational factors both drive and constrain purchasing's involvement in environmental activities. The empirical findings suggest that environmental purchasing activities will be facilitated through increased coordination with suppliers as well as downstream members of the supply chain, including retailers. The results also suggest the need for increased coordination within the firm, particularly between the purchasing function on the inbound side and marketing and distribution functions on the outbound side.     

An agenda for future research regarding the mental health of young people with care experience

Young people who are currently or were previously in state care have consistently been found to have much higher rates of mental health and neurodevelopmental difficulties than the general youth population. While a number of high-quality reviews highlight what research has been undertaken in relation to the mental health of young people with care experience and the gaps in our knowledge and understanding, there is, until now, no consensus, so far as we aware, as to where our collective research efforts should be directed with this important group. Through a series of UK wide workshops, we undertook a consultative process to identify an agreed research agenda between those with lived experience of being in care (n = 15), practitioners, policy makers and researchers (n = 59), for future research regarding the mental health of young people with care experience, including those who are neurodiverse/have a neurodevelopmental difficulty. This consensus statement identified 21 foci within four broad categories: how we conceptualize mental health; under-studied populations; under-studied topics; and underused methodologies. We hope that those who commission, fund and undertake research will engage in this discussion about the future agenda for research regarding the mental health of young people with care experience.     

Sex Differences in Parenting Behaviors in Single‐Mother and Single‐Father Households

Research on family structure has led some to claim that sex‐based parenting differences exist. But if such differences exist in single‐parent families, the absence of a second parent rather than specific sex‐typed parenting might explain them. We examine differences in mothering and fathering behavior in single‐parent households, where number of parents is held constant, and we describe individualist and structuralist perspectives for potential sex‐based parenting behaviors. We compare 3,202 single mothers and 307 single fathers in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (Kindergarten Cohort). Results suggest that, although there are small differences in the parenting behaviors of single mothers and single fathers, differences are sensitive to demographic disparities and do not translate to academic deficits for children in either family type.