The Dynamics of Social Indicator Research for California’s Central Valley in Transition

How can social indicator research improve understanding of community health as well as inform stakeholders about the assets disadvantaged communities have for coping with disparities? This paper describes the development and evolution of the Partnership for Assessment of Communities (PAC) and its best practices for social indicator research. The PAC will be of interest to researchers across multiple disciplines for a number of reasons. First, PAC is a working model of best practices for multidisciplinary scholarly inquiry. Second, it has developed an integrated model of quantitative and qualitative methodology to define and measure community health as compared to traditional quality-of-life indicators. Third, it serves as an example of “action research,” in that the findings have the potential to make an impact on community stakeholders and policy outcomes in the greater Central San Joaquin Valley of California, a region characterized by deep social and economic disparities.     

Changes in mortality and life expectancy: Some methodological issues

Measuring and explaining the effects of mortality changes on life expectancy has been discussed for the past three decades. Different approaches have been proposed using discrete or continuous methods. Two basic ideas underlie these approaches. The first compares two different mortality schedules and quantifies the contribution of each age group to the increase in life expectancy. The second analyzes how the progress in the mortality schedule translates into progress in life expectancy. This paper discusses and compares the approaches proposed by the United Nations (1982), Arriaga (1984), Pollard (1982, 1988), and Vaupel (1986), identifying their problems, advantages, and the types of situations where each one can best be applied.     

Access to education in Africa: responding to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities mandates that disabled people should have full rights to education in inclusive settings. However, to ensure that educational polices and settings are designed to meet this criterion seems challenging to African countries that have ratified this Convention. This article arises from the 2nd African Network of Evidence-to-Action on Disability Symposium. This fluid network was established to address the gap between research and practice in the region. The article reports proceedings and the emerging themes from the Education, Training and Work Commission; one of the six commissions of this Symposium, focusing specifically on the education aspect. It also challenges various stakeholders to move from evidence to action to ensure the educational rights of disabled people in inclusive settings.     

State of public relations education in the United States: 2006 report on a national survey of executives and academics

A survey of 312 public relations executives and educators examined how well practitioners and instructors perceive public relations students to be prepared for the practice, the content and value of public relations curricula and, the future of public relations education in the United States. Results are largely consistent with those from a slightly smaller 1998 survey, suggesting that the views of both groups are consistent over time and providing the first two data points in what it is hoped will develop into a longitudinal line of research addressing public relations education. Judgments regarding the desired characteristics among job applicants and essential curriculum content were extremely similar between the practitioner and educator groups with both wanting more emphasis on research, ethics and strategic planning as the field moves from a low-paid technical emphasis toward a much better paid strategic planning and research emphasis.     

Intergenerational Relationships and Union Stability in Fragile Families

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well being Study (N= 2,656), we examined the association between intergenerational relationships and parents' union stability five years after a baby's birth. Results showed that more amiable relationships between parents and each partner's parents, and more time children spent with paternal grandparents, were associated with increased odds that parents were co-residing by the time their focal child was age five. More time that children spent with maternal grandparents reduced union stability, although this result was not robust to methods that better address selection. These findings underscore the importance of the broader social contexts affecting couple stability. Findings further suggest that even amidst changing demographic conditions, intergenerational family ties are important for couples-and by extension-their children.     

Variation in Artistic Circles*

Several theorists have suggested the use of social circles in studying patterns of interaction among artists. Crane has proposed that artistic circles approximate circles found among scientists. Kadushin feels that a particular type of circle—the movement circle—characterizes art. Research on the emergence of various artistic groups—the American Artists' Congress, American Abstract Artists, and the surrealist movement—indicates that these two frameworks are not adequate for understanding all artistic circles. What becomes clear is that artistic circles vary along a number of dimensions. First, there is variation in what brings artists together. At times it is the propagation of an aesthetic faith. At others it is a similar political orientation or issue. Finally, artists come together as a result of the practical concerns of making a living. Secondly, there is a wide variation in the types of structures around which these circles drape themselves. These may range from highly instituted structures, such as the federal government art projects, to a club or a bar. Finally, the linkages between these circles, unlike the invisible colleges in science, are individuals characterized not by their belongingness to a particular circle, but rather by their marginality to those circles. Simmel's social type, “the stranger,” is suggested as characterizing this type of individual.     

A Conceptual Framework for Differential Use of Mediation and Family Therapy Interventions With Older Adults and Their Families

The purpose of this article is to present a family-centered approach to working with older adults. This framework utilizes a differential use of family therapy and therapeutic mediation theoretical concepts and skills. This provides an effective approach to conceptualizing and intervening with these often complex situations regarding the decision-making processes related to care of older members. Family-centered mediators/clinicians must be skilled in both models to understand and intervene in the challenging issues presented by families. A case example is included in the article to illustrate the framework.     

Examining the Antecedents of U.S. Nonmarital Fatherhood

Despite the dramatic rise in U.S. nonmarital childbearing in recent decades, limited attention has been paid to factors affecting nonmarital fatherhood (beyond studies of young fathers). In this article, we use data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort to examine the antecedents of nonmarital fatherhood, as compared to marital fatherhood. Overall, we find the strongest support across both data sets for education and race/ethnicity as key predictors of having a nonmarital first birth, consistent with prior literature about women’s nonmarital childbearing and about men’s early/teenage fatherhood. Education is inversely related to the risk of nonmarital fatherhood, and minority (especially black) men are much more likely to have a child outside of marriage than white men. We find little evidence that employment predicts nonmarital fertility, although it does strongly (and positively) predict marital fertility. High predicted earnings are also associated with a greater likelihood of marital childbearing but with a lower likelihood of nonmarital childbearing. Given the socioeconomic disadvantage associated with nonmarital fatherhood, this research suggests that nonmarital fatherhood may be an important aspect of growing U.S. inequality and stratification both within and across generations.